Piece of Me
by iJapan
Summary: Welcome to the everyday lives of a nurse and a college student. For two seemingly normal women, many decidedly abnormal things happen. As if hearing voices wasn't enough, what happens when these voices materialise into two attractive men claiming to be their egos? 'Crazy' doesn't even begin to cover it... Second collab with Scarlotte O'Hara. Full warnings inside. NO FLAMES PLEASE.
1. Introduction

**Piece of Me**

**Introduction**

First of all, hello and welcome to our story!

Before you begin reading, we'd like to tell you a little bit about the premise for how this story came around, which will hopefully clear things up for what's ahead.

As you may have noticed, this story is co-written by both Scarlotte O'Hara and myself. Scarlotte (or Charlotte, as is her name) and I met on FF here after I commented on one of her stories; this in turn led to lengthy conversations after further reviews on each other's work.

From these conversations we gleaned that we had similar interests for story ideas and just issues about life in general, and we ended up working on our first collab title together involving a rather interesting crack pairing of Ambassador Seaweed and Byakuya.

Amongst this, we fell upon the subject of egos, and just what it would be like if some of our favourite Bleach characters were human egos – thus, this story was born.

All characters in this story are of course fictional and of the Bleachverse, except for those names listed as being real-life names; these people are based on real-life people and events.

Charlotte and Laura are also our actual names, and as such any information we give about ourselves is (mostly) accurate.

**The warnings for this story are as follows:**

This work solely consists of self-inserts (almost entirely of the shameless kind) and Mary Sue situations, as well as romance, humorous scenarios and excessive coarse language.

We understand this type of story is not for everyone, and if it isn't for you please click the exit button now. We also kindly ask that **negative reviews remain with the reader so as not to ruin other's enjoyment of the story.**

Otherwise, sit back and we hope you enjoy 'Piece of Me'!

- iJapan and Scarlotte O'Hara


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Heaving a sigh I took my keys out of my pocket, the metal jangling in my palm as I inserted them into the front doorknob. Struggling with the lock for a few irritating minutes, I let out a cry of triumph when the door finally decided to heed my wish.

Swinging it open, I stepped inside to be greeted by the familiar cream coloured walls of my house. Leaning back against the door I applied my weight, shutting it and hoisting my bag over my shoulders.

"I swear whoever decided to have a class this late at night must have been batshit."

Grumbling to myself for not the first time about arriving home so late at 7:45 in the evening, I cursed once more at the University for them and their timetable structure. Having Japanese so late in the day may work for some, but for others there are actually more important things which they would rather be doing. In my case, absolutely nothing.

My curses now flying towards my lack of success in obtaining a part-time job thus far, I stormed further inside my house, turning the corridor and throwing my bag unceremoniously upon my bed.

_I'm tired as shit. _

Letting out a loud groan I rubbed my forehead. My day had been, by all accounts, absolutely terrible.

First off, I had overslept and hence missed out on my morning lecture. Not that I ever attended that one in the first place, but for a first year University student that is sure to not look very impressive on the overall track record. Secondly, I had missed the bus for my evening class thanks to a certain useless freeloading brother of mine not bothering to remind me that the clock on the wall was as a matter of fact behind one hour. And thirdly, upon finally arriving at class I was subjected once more to the raucous clamour of the group of class clowns sitting in the back who do absolutely _no_ work, and decide that the best way for themselves and for others to learn is by not learning to _tone it the fuck down with their useless conversations_.

To top it all off, my brain had even agreed with me on more than one occasion, offering me smart remarks which left me thinking that if only my mind agreed with me this often on a usual basis then I wouldn't have half as many issues with matters as it is. Might even get me that High Distinction* on my next assignment instead of a measly Credit*.

Groaning again I moved into the bathroom, finding amongst the various creams and bottles the packet of makeup wipes. Rubbing one over my face I observed in the mirror the faint traces of powder disappearing from my cheeks, followed by the small amount of eyeliner and mascara from my green eyes. Grimacing when I threw the used wipe in the bin, I threaded a strand of my curly brown hair through my fingertips.

_It's so dry. I hate my hair._

Glaring at the hapless looking strands I grumbled bitterly to myself, my brain seeming to hum in agreement with me.

'Now if only you'd spend as much time on yer schoolwork as you do worryin' about yer face, maybe you'd get that HD yer after.'

Sighing quietly, I gave a faint murmur in response to my thoughts. Stupid brain. It's always right.

I blinked.

_Wait a minute._

My brows pulling into a frown, my mind worked to run over what I had just heard. Something was... off... I couldn't put my finger on what exactly, but it sure as hell seemed for a moment like I was being spoken to. By my own thoughts. I blinked again, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My own... thoughts? Sure I talk to myself a lot when I'm going over my stories for FanFiction, or getting pissed off at my latest assignments, but I don't remember my brain ever deciding to strike up a conversation with me before.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat.

"Laura, you are officially insane." I muttered quietly to myself under my breath.

'Clearly.'

Scowling at my brain once more, I groaned yet again, running a hand through my hair. I headed out of the bathroom, making a beeline for the safe haven which was my bedroom. Closing the door behind me I let out an almighty huff, jumping onto the mattress and booting up my laptop. Humming idly to myself, I waited for the machine to switch on.

* * *

Ten minutes passed and I found myself typing away at my latest story edits for FanFiction, my homework lying abandoned beside me. It was a Thursday night, and not having my next Japanese class until next Tuesday, I figured that I could afford the weekend some time for revision. I let out an annoyed groan when the loud knocking on my door interrupted my thought pattern, the annoying sound cutting through to my ears despite my music being turned up to an excessive volume.

"Fuck off..." I mumbled quietly. I rolled my eyes when the door opened anyway.

"Laura, dinner's ready in ten minutes."

I merely mumbled my recognition to my father's words. He left the room. Turning my head I rolled my eyes again when the door was left open.

"It _was_ closed for a reason... would it kill you to shut it?" I wondered aloud as I got up and slammed it, now once more feeling a bit more than mildly pissed off.

'Would it kill ya to stop being such a lazy ass?'

A small shriek filled the air. My hand fell from the doorknob, my eyes widening.

Shaking, I blinked, turning my head frantically from side to side. That voice...

I gulped, lifting a hand to my chest and sitting back down on my bed, gripping my hair in my fingertips. That voice...

"What... the... FUCK... was that?" My whisper was hoarse, the man's sarcastic comment having spoken in my head sounding so close, so real that it was almost as if there was someone right behind me. I turned my glance to the computer screen, the faint beeping of my inbox alerting me I had received a new email. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes for a moment and willed my pounding heart to calm down.

Rolling over I grabbed my computer to access my email.

'1 new message: Charlotte'

* * *

_Laura,_

_I believe I may be going insane, not that I wasn't already. If possible can one go more insane than they were previously? If so I am there, and considering checking myself into the mental hospital. Why? Well, get ready for this, and hold onto your seat. Please don't think me insane, even though I already fear I am._

_Yesterday after work I got home and knew I needed to study, which is normal for me as you know. What was distinctly abnormal was when I began getting my material together, I thought to myself how I wished I didn't have to do this and that's when it happened._

_"Then don't, go sit on the couch and watch some TV." This voice rumbled in my head, a voice that definitely was not female or mine. It was a deep, smooth, MALE voice. Startled, I dropped my textbook on my foot and began to righteously curse at the distraction, because of course I didn't think it was real._

_"That's what you get, I told you to go to the couch didn't I?" It grumbled at me again. Now I was freaking out, it was not my voice, and it was talking to me directly. I looked around, convinced someone was in the room and saw I was the only one in my small home. My dog stared up at me confused as to my actions. Annoyed, I took my books to my desk and began the arduous task of studying. Nursing school is a bitch and I quickly became absorbed in my task, thus able to push these weird occurrences from my mind._

_I hadn't realized how much time had passed until my stomach let out an audible roar. Inwardly I groaned because I hate cooking as you know, and can make a good enough meal but I simply don't enjoy it. That's when it started back up._

_"Why not just order a pizza and save yourself the trouble?"_

_ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!_

_There it was again, clear as a bell in my head. The same deep baritone from earlier. Shaking it off I took Bayvin* out to use the potty. There is no way that I am hearing voices. Being a nurse, I immediately began to think about what mental disorder I could possibly have. Was I a schizophrenic? I mean they hear voices, but the voices aren't rational and this one was clearly VERY rational, and VERY lazy. It wasn't adding up, usually from my experience at work the voices directed the person to do something irrational and this wasn't the case. It was like the voice knows me, he (and I say 'he' because it was a male voice) definitely knew I wanted to be lazy instead of study or cook._

_Am I going insane? What do you make of this?_

_Char_

* * *

Chewing my bottom lip I tried my best to clear my mind, opening up the message and reading through. As my eyes absorbed the words on screen from my friend, I felt my hands begin to shake even more. My breath hitched. My brain felt like it was swimming.

"No..."

I clicked the 'reply' button.

"No way..."

I began typing.

"No fucking way..."

'Look on the bright side. Least you're not the only one who's goin' insane, Laura.'

"Shut up..." I whispered, that same rough edged masculine, almost wild voice purring through my mind once more. I shivered, my brain about ready to explode from the reality that I perhaps was finally losing all semblance of sanity that I had left.

Minutes of thankful much needed silence passed, broken only by the frantic tapping of my fingers on the keys. I paused, looking over my email.

* * *

_Hey Char,_

_If you're going insane, then I think it's very likely that I am too._

_You're talking about hearing these voices in your head, these male voices? Yeah. I don't know why it's happening, but it's happening for me as well._

_Whereas yours seems to be a very rational and lazy voice, mine is simply a rude bastard._

I paused in reading as a very prominent and very audible snort of laughter resounded through my brain. Gulping hardly, I continued.

_I don't know who he is, or how this happened... but today I had a really shitty day. I was feeling pissed off with my morning and when I got home from Japanese, I was sort of fuming over everything that happened. Then I started hearing these thoughts in my head. Well... they weren't actually THOUGHTS. They were more like... conversations... specific words directed entirely towards ME. I ignored it at first, because it had been happening all day, but it wasn't until when I got home I started to take proper notice of it. And the scariest thing... it wasn't my thoughts. It wasn't my VOICE. His voice... it's a wild, rough and deep sounding sarcastic voice, rude, and he's a bit of a smartass to be perfectly honest._

_Even now he's laughing at me while I'm typing this. That laugh probably isn't the best thing for me to hear right now. You know how a cat purrs? It's a deeper version of something like that._

_Perhaps what's scaring me the most though out of all of this is that he appears to know me, just as that voice in your head knows you. For instance, I feel like this dickhead who's talking to me can somehow sympathise with my frustration. Channel through it, if that makes sense._

_Holy shit I'm not even through my first year of University yet and already I've lost my fucking mind._

_I'm scared. I'm really fucking scared. What's going on? What the hell is happening to us all of a sudden?_

_Any chance of allowing me an admission in that mental hospital along with you?_

_Laura_

I pressed send.

* * *

**A/N:**

***Bayvin is a husky, red and white with blue eyes and quite the personality. And yes she is real! - Scarlotte O'Hara**

***High Distinctions and Credits: In my University in Australia, these are two of the several grades we can get for our assignments. HDs are equivalent to an A grade in school, and the Credits are the same as a C grade - iJapan **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Second chapter up! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

I wiped my brow - that was the second time my patient had coded in an hour and the man was by no means small; at one point I had to straddle him in order to do chest compressions. Leaning my tired body against the wall I checked the time, thankful that in only a few more hours my 12 hour shift would be over and I could bury myself in my bed.

"Good work Charlotte." Jay's silky voice sounded by my ear, startling me out of my reverie. I looked into his kind eyes and smiled.

Jay was a good friend and one of my superiors in the ER. He had worked there for several years, whereas I had only been there a measly year. He was a mentor of sorts to me and completely flaming gay. The only reason I mention that is because our nurse manager Sherri is somewhat of a succubus, and would have fired him simply for being gay if he wasn't such a damn good nurse. That and the equal rights circus it would have caused.

No one else had an issue with it, just her, and in fact there were many people who were homosexual that she didn't know about simply for that reason. I adored Jay because he was just himself, he didn't flaunt it or try to keep it in check, and his boyfriend Blake worked on the sub-acute floor at the same hospital and was just as charming as Jay.

Yawning, I headed for the staff room. Now that my patients were all stable I could grab a bite to eat. My dinner did not hold my interest as I warmed it up in the microwave, but the smell of freshly brewed coffee sure did.

'Why not just take a nap instead of drinking that foul stuff?'

I crinkled my brows at my brain and protested.

"It's not foul! I like coffee!" Wait a minute, am I arguing with myself?

I sighed and ripped open a sugar packet, pouring it into the waiting Styrofoam cup. I was not hearing things again was I? Maybe I should just check myself in. _Yeah right._ I rolled my eyes and poured the hot brown liquid into the cup. Taking a small sip I startled as it was indeed piping hot.

'Seriously, a nap would have been safer.' The voice said contemptuously again, with a tinge of laughter.

What in the sweet shit is going on? I really must be working too hard between doing working full time at the ER and trying to advance my degree. I fumbled in my scrub pocket for my cell and saw I had several texts and an email alert. I responded to my texts first and then opened the email. A clatter sounded in my ears and I realized I dropped the phone; hands shaking I reached to pick it up and re-read the email I had just seen.

* * *

_Hey Char,_

_If you're going insane, then I think it's very likely that I am too._

_You're talking about hearing these voices in your head, these male voices? Yeah. I don't know why it's happening, but it's happening for me as well._

_Whereas yours seems to be a very rational and lazy voice, mine is simply a rude bastard._

_I don't know who he is, or how this happened... but today I had a really shitty day. I was feeling pissed off with my morning and when I got home from Japanese, I was sort of fuming over everything that happened. Then I started hearing these thoughts in my head. Well... they weren't actually THOUGHTS. They were more like... conversations... specific words directed entirely towards ME. I ignored it at first, because it had been happening all day, but it wasn't until when I got home I started to take proper notice of it. And the scariest thing... it wasn't my thoughts. It wasn't my VOICE. His voice... it's a wild, rough and deep sounding sarcastic voice, rude, and he's a bit of a smartass to be perfectly honest._

_Even now he's laughing at me while I'm typing this. That laugh probably isn't the best thing for me to hear right now. You know how a cat purrs? It's a deeper version of something like that._

_Perhaps what's scaring me the most though out of all of this is that he appears to know me, just as that voice in your head knows you. For instance, I feel like this dickhead who's talking to me can somehow sympathise with my frustration. Channel through it, if that makes sense._

_Holy shit I'm not even through my first year of University yet and already I've lost my fucking mind._

_I'm scared. I'm really fucking scared. What's going on? What the hell is happening to us all of a sudden?_

_Any chance of allowing me an admission in that mental hospital along with you?_

_Laura_

* * *

No fucking way, I read, re-read and re-read again for good measure.

'Well at least you will have company in the mental ward.' The voice said, deeply resounding in my head. Yeah there was no doubt about it; this was very real and very much in my mind.

"You know, if you're going to torment me at least remove yourself from my head and do it like a man." I mentally grouched at him.

'It takes too much energy, maybe if you're lucky I will.' He snickered at me, snickered at me!

"Oh fuck you and your little dog too, damned voice!" I shot back.

'You'd like that wouldn't you?'

I didn't even respond to him before I began furiously typing a reply to Laura, noting that I only had about 15 minutes left on my 30 minute lunch break.

* * *

_Laura,_

_Oh I can get us admitted no problem, and in fact speaking of problems my voice propositioned me! I told him to fuck off and he asked if I would like that._

I paused to roll my eyes as I heard a quiet chuckle in my mind.

_He is laughing at me right now, I know you said yours is a rude bastard and mine apparently likes snarky comments as well as being lazy. You say yours sounds like a cat purring? Mine is rougher, wild, and whenever he speaks to me I can almost smell a forest. Maybe I really am losing it, but he won't leave me alone and is always trying to get me to sleep or be lazy._

_And get this, I told him to come out of my head and he actually said he would think about it. What?! Seriously am I going to start hallucinating next? Do you think they can actually appear? No no, I can't even discuss that it's too insane and if my demon of a boss knew I was having this problem she'd fire me in a heartbeat. I swear sometimes she can see my soul. _

I shook my head to dispel the unwanted thought of my boss before continuing my missive.

_I know exactly what you mean, for sure this isn't my voice but someone else's - a man's voice. Which is pretty unsettling given that we are both women and now we are hearing men in our heads. I wonder what that says about us?_

_Has anything else happened to you? I have to run my break is up!_

_Charlotte_

* * *

Sighing I sent and exited my email before returning my phone to my pocket. Quickly stretching my tired body I decided to make a quick stop to the bathroom. The staff had separate bathrooms that only they were allowed in - I stifled a yawn and made my way into the one occupant room, the walls painted a mauve color with potpourri that smelled of the ocean, the lights dim. I settled down onto the porcelain throne wishing I could just stay sitting for the next hour or so.

'Why not? Just lean against the wall, no one will miss you.' I groaned inwardly at the now familiar voice in my head.

"Seriously dude, I have patients out there. Go away for now and for shit's sake don't bother me til tomorrow at least. I'm off and can deal with my craziness then." I huffed and finished my business.

Little did I know just what sort of trouble I had asked for.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Great_, I thought, sidling myself into the constricting rows of tables and selecting my seat, _just my luck to get here before everyone else. _

Glancing around the otherwise empty lecture hall, I slumped back against the chair and pulled my workbooks and laptop out in front of me.

_Still_, I added as an afterthought, _it's good that this hall isn't a large one. _

Allowing a brief hum of approval at the small room which seated up to 65 students, I could only shudder at the thought of being the only one in the lecture halls which crowded upwards 500 students in total.

Sighing as I waited for my laptop to start up, I slumped my shoulders and rested my chin against my hands, my elbows leaning on the desk. Normally I wasn't the only one to arrive first before the remaining crowds of students for this particular subject, but on occasion I had been unfortunate enough to remain by myself whilst waiting for the groups of misfits to arrive.

I hated the feeling of conspicuousness and awkwardness to be the only student seated when the professor walked in. I didn't exactly like having to strike up a conversation with them to pass the time.

Looking up at the clock on the opposite wall, a large huff left my lips as I noted the time. 8:55am.

_As if having late night classes wasn't enough, who the hell thought it would be a good idea to start so early in the morning? Don't they get enough of that in primary and secondary school?_

The flashing of the illuminated screen before me drew my attention to my laptop awaiting my password. My fingers typing away quickly on the keys, I pressed 'Enter' and allowed a faint smile to cross my lips at the amusing motivational wallpaper that rose to meet me.

Thankful that the University allowed free Wi-Fi, I opened up my homepage and made to access my email.

Seeing that I still hadn't received a message from Charlotte, I bit my lip and closed my computer, feeling my brows crease together in slight anxiety.

Mercifully the strange voice which I had heard in my head yesterday evening hadn't decided to strike up another delightfully irritating conversation with me since, so I was able to go to bed with some ease of mind.

I was still deeply troubled by the words of my friend, however, and that was partly the reason why I had woken up so early after what was a rather terrible night. Losing sleep did not bode well with me, rather it only made to piss me off more. I hoped that whatever was going on was just some sort of fluke, a pretty freaking _insane _fluke, but still, a fluke nonetheless.

_Yeah. That's all it is. Just keep your head clear Laura and try to focus on the lecture. You're tired! That's probably all it is. _

Settling on that as my explanation for yesterday evening, I took a deep breath and lifted my head as the sound of the door opening followed by the first raucous outbursts of the day filled the otherwise silent hall.

"Finally…" I mumbled under my breath, smiling slightly and lifting my hand to return a wave that was aimed at me from the professor and the first groups of students who filed through. Frowning, I noticed that the girl I sat next to for this lesson, Abbey, wasn't among them.

_Well that's fucking peachy._

She and I weren't really friends, more just acquaintances, but we worked together on all of our group tasks for this subject and we engaged in conversation when we had moments to do so.

Sighing heavily at the lack of someone to talk to for the next two hours, I slouched back against my chair, feigning a look of attention as the professor began his talk, fumbling with the PowerPoint slideshow behind him.

_It's gonna be a long day._

* * *

"So _how _then, does narrative become an aspect which _matters_ to each of us and our individual personas? Well, if you look at the reading for this week…"

Flickering my gaze to the clock, I grumbled faintly. It was only 10am.

_He's been at it for an hour and already I've forgotten what we're talking about._

Yawning faintly, I resumed my scribbling on my notepad. Trying not to snigger, I completed the moustache on a scratchy picture of the lecturer. I then finished the top hat and monocle, and the walking cane he was holding in his left hand.

I hummed quietly as I went to accompany my picture with a title, smiling at my rather poor work.

Normally I would be paying absolute attention in class, but I had already downloaded the PowerPoint for today and had written out my notes and perused the readings. I may be lazy, but I aim to get ahead with my schoolwork whenever I can.

Hearing the loud rustlings of papers being retrieved and shuffled from my classmates, I lifted my head. Sighing, I went to collect my folder and grab my reading for today.

_Better make it look like I'm paying attention. _

Settling the correct page out, I glanced around me. It seemed like I wasn't the only one who was completely over it already. Some students had given up facing the slideshow and had turned their heads to each other, conversing to one other about God knows what. Some other students had their phones out, catching the latest news feeds on Facebook.

Others had just completely zoned out and were simply gazing at the front, their eyes glazed over as the lecturer's words flew completely over their heads.

Tapping my pen against my paper, I was pulled into my own mind, going over my plan to get a good night's sleep tonight.

And that's when it happened.

'Tch. I can understand yer bored as shit, but get yer ass into gear already if ya don't wanna make it look like yer not payin' attention.'

My eyes widened, my pen dropping from my hands and a faint hiss escaped my teeth as I jumped in my chair to retrieve it, hitting my forehead against the table as I did so.

Groaning faintly my cheeks turned a deep scarlet, my mind swimming with embarrassment as I heard chuckles from some students nearby who had happened to have witnessed that less than gracious star act.

My embarrassment soon became a flushed anger as that voice in my head sniggered, his laughter rumbling in a cackling purr.

'Good. Maybe that knock on yer head might kick some sense into ya.'

_No. Not now. _

I groaned, lifting my head and gripping my forehead, closing my eyes and willing my face to cool down. I knew that I would be looking like the rather comical representation of a human tomato right about now.

'Ya know how depressing it is, just watchin' ya draw away and go all whiney in class? I thought I was doin' you a favour by leaving you alone for a couple of hours last night, but honestly I think you really need my help. What _is _that s'posed to be a picture of, anyway? Fuck, ya really need to go into an art school or somethin'.'

I grit my teeth.

_Shut up._

'Admit it, ya can hate it all ya want, but that doesn't change the fact that you really _do _need my help.'

My temple throbbed, my eye beginning to twitch as my teeth grit harder.

_Shut up._

'An' ya wonder why you're always upset with what grades yer gettin', too… can't you at least quit it with the daydreamin' and actually _do _something with your life? You really are pathetic sometimes, Laura. It's killin' me in here.'

_Oh that DOES it. _

"Shut… the fuck… up…"

Panting faintly, my growled sentence left my lips before I could even stop myself. A deathly silence filled the room.

Swallowing thickly, I slowly chanced a gaze to the front of the lecture hall, my body tingling as if I was under public scrutiny. Sure enough, as my eyes lifted, I found that that was indeed the case. Everyone's eyes were turned to me, some expressions filled with shock, others with amusement, and someone had even given a brief cheer.

An audible gulp leaving my lips, I trembled as I saw the look on the lecturer's face, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his gaze hard.

_Shit! Why did I say that out loud?!_

'Nice one.'

I mentally kicked the voice in my head.

"Laura, is there a problem with my teaching?" The professor asked, his voice echoing around the quiet lecture hall.

I quickly shook my head, my eyes still wide.

"N-no, sir. Not at all."

The lecturer's eyes continued to narrow.

"Did you feel the need to exit the class for the meantime until you calm down?"

I was completely frozen, my brain stumbling over my words. Swallowing thickly once again, I was about to answer 'no' when an idea hit me last second.

"Yes thanks." I murmured quietly, already shuffling out of my seat and grabbing my books and laptop. The professor nodded his head, turning back to the slideshow. I ignored the eyes trained on me as I exited my row, being as quiet as I possibly could.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, I swung open the door and immediately fell into a fast walk as I headed down the corridor, aiming to find some place private. Remembering that there was a quiet eating area behind the library, I took a sharp right-hand turn at the end of the corridor, breezing past the arrays of posters and billboards lining the walls and hastily weaving my way through the small crowds of a class which had just exited their own lecture hall.

'Gotta say ya handled yerself pretty well just then, Laura.'

I grit my teeth and growled faintly as his wild voice spoke up again, his tone clearly patronising me.

"Shut your mouth. I don't know who or what the hell you are, but we are going to talk about this." I hissed quietly, trying to ignore the rumbling laughter that echoed through my brain in response as I tore down the outside pathway upon having flung open the doors.

Catching sight of the library, I continued to run towards the group of abandoned tables I knew were situated behind it.

* * *

"Ok, who the FUCK are you, and WHY are you in my head?!"

My voice was high and angry, but I didn't care. No one was around to see me literally having a conversation with myself and so I wouldn't be heard. My laptop placed in front of me on the bench, I had my email opened and my head in my hands once more.

'Maybe watch yer fuckin' language and I'll consider answerin' that.'

I groaned.

"Yeah, yeah _REAL _cute…" I hissed.

The voice merely sniggered in response.

An angry tic forming in my forehead, I growled faintly again at the wild sounding purr of his laughter. Lowering my hands from my face for a moment, I paused, listening to the sound.

A smile formed on my lips.

Two could play at this game.

"You know… you remind me of one of those cats from a pet store…" I spoke up after a moment, my tone now relaxed and pleasant.

I smirked when the man's laughter promptly stopped.

'The fuck was that?!'

I reckoned that if I had a mirror in front of me at that moment, my face would have been the epitome of 'smug'.

"Oh, nothing…" I mused, stretching out my legs and crossing one over the other on the opposite row of chairs. "It's just… you sound like a little kitty when you laugh…"

I couldn't help but laugh loudly at the audible growl of warning echoing in my brain.

'Laura…' He hissed.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Kitty? I'm assuming I can call you that, seeing as I never _did _get your name. You've been too busy insulting me and making wise-ass remarks like the dickhead you are."

'You fucking watch yer trap… I'm warning you…'

"Ooohh I am practically _shaking _in my boots. Y'know for someone who sounds so angry and the very much 'action-ey' type of guy, you sure are empty when it comes to your threats. What's wrong? Too scared to come out and talk to me, face me like the 'man' you are? Or is the cat too busy playing mouse right now?"

Snickering when there was an abrupt silence ringing through my head after my words, I turned my attention back to the computer. The screen blinked, indicating I had received a new message. My smug expression quickly faded when I saw that Charlotte had just emailed me.

Clicking on the tab, I opened up the mail and read its contents.

* * *

_Laura,_

_Oh I can get us admitted no problem, and in fact speaking of problems my voice propositioned me! I told him to fuck off and he asked if I would like that._

_He is laughing at me right now, I know you said yours is a rude bastard and mine apparently likes snarky comments as well as being lazy. You say yours sounds like a cat purring? Mine is rougher, wild, and whenever he speaks to me I can almost smell a forest. Maybe I really am losing it, but he won't leave me alone and is always trying to get me to sleep or be lazy._

_And get this, I told him to come out of my head and he actually said he would think about it. What?! Seriously am I going to start hallucinating next? Do you think they can actually appear? No no, I can't even discuss that, it's too insane and if my demon of a boss knew I was having this problem she'd fire me in a heartbeat. I swear sometimes she can see my soul. _

_I know exactly what you mean, for sure this isn't my voice but someone else's - a man's voice. Which is pretty unsettling given that we're both women and now we are hearing men in our heads. I wonder what that says about us?_

_Has anything else happened to you? I have to run my break is up!_

_Charlotte _

* * *

My eyes ran back and forth across the page, my hands clenching and gripping the edge of the table so tightly my knuckles were white against my skin.

I felt like I was hyperventilating, my eyes steadily widening and my brain forming into lockdown as I re-read the email.

"No way…" I whispered for not the first time since this ordeal had started.

_What the hell is going on here?!_

Gulping, my hands were shaking as I went to press them to the keys, immediately beginning to type up my response.

The sound of my fingertips tapping furiously against the keypad almost drowned out the sound of someone calling out to me, footsteps edging closer.

I ignored whoever it was, my mind only set on answering this email.

Suddenly out of nowhere a hand came down and closed around the laptop, slamming the lid shut with a loud 'snap'. I shrieked, my heart almost jumping out of my chest.

My eyes widened again as I saw a large tanned hand adjoining a corded muscled forearm from in front of me, the hand's fingers splayed out against the laptop lid.

"Oi! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to ya!"

I froze.

That voice.

That… voice…

Swallowing thickly, my head slowly raised, my eyes almost as large as saucers as they focused on the stranger in front of me.

A silence passed.

I could barely manage a hoarse whisper.

"Holy… shit..."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Mercifully the voice had been quiet on my day off - in fact I hadn't even heard a peep from it or Laura. Getting worried for her sanity as I knew she was teetering on the edge of it, I shot off another quick email just asking if she was ok. Closing my laptop I sighed and pulled my hair back.

Perfect, I was ready for another day at work. Smiling at myself in the mirror I had to admit I didn't look too shabby. Some nurses just went to work bare faced with their hair up sloppily, my mom had always said to look polished, and I found it to be true. After all if I was a patient I would want my nurse to at least look like she took care of herself, if she couldn't care for herself how could she care for me?

'You're overthinking this as usual.' A sleepy voice said. Fuck me!

"You again!" I all but growled, annoyed that the bastard couldn't at least do what I asked and bug me when I didn't have to work.

'Hey!' He said defensively, 'I was sleeping while you were off! Jeez, I can't be here all the time.'

"I'd really prefer if it you'd take a long walk off a short pier." I shot back, grabbing my bag and heading for my car. Seriously, why now?

'No can do mi amiga, I'm part of you.'

"The hell you are, get out of my head."

'Hmmm, a lovely idea. If I have enough energy I may indulge you.' I could feel the smoothness of his voice. It was, almost, kind of, sexy. Shit, I am going insane. I shook my head and started up the car; I didn't have time to go insane today.

* * *

Immediately the ambulances were coming in, it seemed like a steady stream of that and admitting people, my rooms were full for most of the day and I was getting exhausted.

I had lucked out in a way, while I enjoyed the emergencies I had the most fun with the helicopter and ambulance ones and my assignment had been the four rooms closest to their respective bays. Which in short meant anything they brought went to me, and usually those were the real emergencies.

Tired but happy I made my way to a darkened room to sit down, my patients all stable at last. Opening the door I entered the black space and stretched. Not wanting to turn on the lights for fear I would be discovered, I yawned and sat down on the bed.

Right on top of something.

Jumping up with a shriek, convinced I may have sat on a corpse, I hastily fumbled for the light switch. To my relief it was not a corpse but a sleeping man, his shaggy brown hair framed his beautifully angular face with perfection. His chin was adorned with a little goatee and his eyes were closed as he turned in his sleep, light blue eyes cracking open and meeting mine.

"Oh, it's you." He muttered, his voice oddly familiar. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh, no way. I switched the light off.

_When I turn this back on you won't be in this room,_ I thought to myself.

"That's highly unlikely." He answered out loud. Shutting my eyes I turned the light back on to see him grinning at me, a rather self-satisfied smile on his rugged features.

"You..." I said, trembling, pointing a finger at him, "stay the fuck here until I get off work!"

I heard the door open and Talia poked her head in.

"Char, is everything ok?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks Talia, I'll be right out."

Nodding at me with a look that let me know she wasn't quite convinced, I rounded on the man as soon as she left.

"You, leave me the hell alone until I'm done with work and then we can have a nice long talk."

To my utter dismay he grinned even wider, showing his pointed incisors. A shiver ran up my spine at the unspoken problem I would now have to deal with. Never breaking his gaze with mine he ran a large hand through his hair.

"I'll see you when you're done." He said softly, his voice full of unwanted promise.

* * *

Eagerly I threw myself into my work, attempting to ignore the unbidden thoughts that popped into my head.

Gods he was sexy, and he was in my head.

So, what, was I now hallucinating that there was a rather scrumptious looking man speaking to me inside my head?

Oh this shit was bad. Narrowing my eyes I furiously began working on my charting, I wanted to get out of work on time for once. I had my own issues to deal with. I ended up only being a few minutes late; before I left I checked my email one last time on my phone - nothing. I hoped Laura was not locked up in the pysch ward.

Groaning to myself I opened my locker to get my things out when a low laugh startled me.

"You!" I hissed at him. "How did you get back here?!"

"I walked." He looked amused.

"Non-staff can't be back here!" I said again, noticing with that statement some of the other workers were looking at me as if I had three heads.

"I'd keep your voice down little girl, you're the only one who can see me. If you have something to say think it in your head." He instructed, his eyes hooded and lips curling upwards.

_You're a real pain in my ass, _I thought furiously at him.

'And you think you aren't an annoyance to me?'

Narrowing my eyes at him I huffed and left the room, only to hear his long strides behind me.

We drove in silence; he rested his hand on his chin and peered out the window and I tried to convince myself I wasn't insane. My mind was working in overtime, I was hearing AND seeing things, certified auditory and visual hallucinations, usually associated with schizophrenia. I glanced over at him. If this was what my mind came up with I wasn't too sorry, he was at least easy on the eyes.

Obediently he followed me into the house and sat down on the loveseat, his cool eyes taking in his surroundings.

"Not a bad place you got here." He said, stretching his lean form out so that he took up the whole loveseat.

"Thanks." I mumbled, unsure of what to do. My eyes flitted to a bottle on top of my refrigerator - rum. This was what I needed. Getting some ice and a glass I quickly made my favorite adult beverage of rum and coke with a dash of lime juice.

"Do you want one?" He nodded his head yes. I handed him the glass; tipping his head back he easily drained it in a few swigs.

"W-w-who are you?!" I stammered, sinking onto the cushion beside him. He regarded me with his sky colored eyes before answering.

"My name is Coyote Starrk, and I am a piece of you."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

My mouth felt dry.

"Holy… shit…"

Vaguely in the back of my brain I was aware that my hand had begun shaking. My finger was raised and pointing in acute disbelief at the man in front of me.

"Holy… _shit_!"

A blue eyebrow rose up at me; I could see the agitated twitch of cyan blue eyes as it did so.

"Ya got anythin' else tah say now that I finally got yer attention?" He growled.

I gulped, my whole body frozen in a complete and utter state of shock. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't _fucking _believe it.

Continuing to tremble, I found my sight drawn towards the wild locks of blue hair which spiked in an unruly fashion on the man's head, his bright blue eyes seemingly unnaturally deep and intense, the teal markings underlining his bottom lids serving to add to the striking vibrancy of those azure depths.

His features were sharp and rugged, the angered furrowing of his brow and the irate scowl of his lips adding to the dangerous looking wildness of his appearance. His skin was tanned – almost golden in the morning glow of the sunlight – and as my gaze slowly moved down from his face, taking in the shape of his neckline and the teasing show of further tanned and toned muscle dipping down underneath the two buttons currently undone on his shirt, I felt my heart seem to come to a stop.

Fuck.

This guy was hot.

A sharp snapping sound filled the air. I blinked, coming back to reality only to find that the blue haired sex god had moved closer so he was now standing in front of me, clicking his fingers in front of my face to get my attention again.

"Oi, eyes up here." He hissed irately.

I could feel my mind becoming blank once more as I was immediately drawn back to those blue eyes gazing intently into my own.

Yeah. Because looking at his face was _so _much better than looking at the rest of his body.

I blinked again, only now realising how tall he was. I reached up to just past his shoulders, and as he stood right there in front of me I felt myself become assaulted by a lovely scent, almost like spiced cinnamon.

_Nice aftershave he's wearing. _

He raised an eyebrow again.

"Ya gonna listen to me now, Laura?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest, his rough sounding voice filling my ears.

I think I drooled a little.

"Who's Laura?" I mumbled, my voice sounding faraway to even my own ears. Fuck, that wild voice of his was good for the mind. Upon seeing the look on his face again I started, quickly snapping out of my sudden blinded stupor.

"O-oi, wait! W-who the fuck are you?!" I cried out, my voice steadily rising into a yell. My cheeks which were flushed with embarrassment were now burning red with anger. He smirked, his lips pulling away to reveal white teeth, the incisors sharpened slightly into what bore a near resemblance to a cat's. I think I drooled a little again.

"Who do you think? Now as soon as ya stop checkin' me out, maybe you can keep yer voice down a bit, yeah?" He sneered.

I blinked again, my hand lowering once more down to my side. I heard noise from close by and I turned my head. I felt my stomach drop from inside me. There, some few feet away, were two students who had paused, glancing between one another and then back to me, pointing and sniggering at me.

I growled a little in frustration before glancing back to that blue haired bastard behind me, that same smug-ass smirk still on his lips.

"Don't mind me, I'm just having a disagreement with this asshole here." I jabbed my thumb at him as I turned my head back to the students. To my dismay they only broke out into even louder fits of laughter, giving me a thumbs up and jeering before heading back off.

I blinked again, my cheeks flushing even more.

"What the hell is _their_ problem?!" I exclaimed, feeling dumbfounded.

"Must be real interestin', talkin' to yerself…"

My eyes widened in rage and I spun back around to face that dickhead, my hands clenching by my sides. His grin grew wider. I tried to ignore the accentuated wildness that smile gave him as I mulled over what he just said.

"What the hell you mean by that?!" I cried out.

A faint gasp fell from my lips when his smile suddenly curved downwards into an irritated sneer. His eyes narrowed at me.

"I said keep yer trap shut. You're the only one who can see me, ya dumb bitch."

My mouth opened and closed in stuttering motions which made me look like the human representation of a puffer fish.

"What?" My whisper was barely audible. My stomach seemed to drop again.

He nodded, his smirk back in place.

I blinked again before growling and rounding on him.

"You weren't planning on telling me that until _after_ I made a complete and utter idiot out of myself, were you?"

He grinned wider.

I growled, gripping my head and pulling at my hair.

"Well, I hope you're happy. I don't even know who you are, or why you're suddenly acting like a figment of my imagination, but if you have nothing better to do with your time except insult me and treat me like a piece of crap, then just piss off and leave me alone!"

I was panting faintly by the end of my sentence, my eyes threatening to pool with angry tears. I had enough on my plate to deal with – I didn't need this prick adding to my troubles.

I turned around to my laptop, picking it up along with my textbooks and making to walk away from him. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to be alone.

"Believe me if it was that simple, I'd 'ave done that ages ago."

I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and gritting my teeth. I paused in my steps.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked quietly, struggling to keep my voice at a minimum whisper.

I groaned when he simply strode up to stand alongside me, his long legs effortlessly keeping up with my strides as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, his form slouching a little as he followed me when I had begun to walk along again.

"Simple. It means unfortunately yer the one I have tah get stuck with. I'm a part of you. No, I ain't happy about it either. You really are so infuriating, Laura."

I grit my teeth again, making sure to keep my voice a whisper as we walked past two more students, the dickhead-who-was-apparently-invisible-to-others still striding alongside me.

"Like you aren't just as infuriating? What the hell are you talking about anyway, this whole 'being a part of me' thing? Last time I checked, I didn't have a guy like you in my head."

_Though_, I thought as I chanced a glance towards my 'partner' next to me, _as far as the looks department goes, I'm glad I do now._

My cheeks turned a bright crimson when he snorted a laugh, that same rumbling purr of a noise sounding much more intense outside of my head than when it did inside.

_Great. Next thing you know he can read my thoughts. _

'Unfortunately fer you, I can.'

A loud groan fell from my lips again when his voice resounded through my mind, loud and clear, yet his mouth didn't move to speak. He slid his cyan blue gaze upon me, his lips pulling apart once more into a near-manic grin. I blushed furiously, my gaze dropping only to find myself staring at his powerful looking physique, eyeing the way his shirt was roughly untucked and hung, dare I say it, quite temptingly off of his muscled frame.

'Like what ya see?'

"Oh fuck my life!" I hissed aloud, blushing only harder when his snigger rang out through my head and I raised my eyes to glance furiously back into his.

He just sniggered once more before reaching up and rubbing the back of his head with his hand. His gaze became contemplative as he glanced ahead of us.

"I'll explain more when we get back home." He murmured quietly.

I almost stopped walking.

"What?" I asked blankly.

His scowl was back in place as he slid his gaze once more to me.

"You wanna go home or not? I wanna get outta this place just as much as you do."

I blinked. Then the realisation of his words hit me. I groaned again.

_Right. If he's a part of my mind as he seems to refer to himself as, it would make sense that he lives at home with me. Or, technically, at home with me in my head. _

'Yer finally using that brain o' yours. 'Bout time.'

I grit my teeth again, throwing my blue haired tormentor a venomous glance as I did so.

"Quiet, you." I seethed, clamping my mouth shut as I angrily strolled forwards, aiming to leave the campus as quickly as I could. I was answered with another satisfied snigger before a resounding silence fell upon us, the tall male continuing to eye around us at the surroundings with what I found was an almost feline-like curiosity.

My brows pulled into a frown.

"By the way..." I spoke up quietly after a moment, my tone now soft. He turned to look back at me, his expression still irritated yet not as much so as it was before. "I never did get your name."

He smirked again.

"Grimmjow." He replied.

I turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. He stopped walking, glaring at me.

"What?" He asked, annoyed.

"No, nothing." I replied. "Is that it? Like, just 'Grimmjow' or do you have a last name or something?"

A hiss of exasperation passed his lips.

"What are ya? Some sort of interrogator or somethin'? Yeah I do, it's 'Jaegerjaquez.' My name's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Christ, what's so freakin' important about that anyways?"

I sighed, turning my head back to face in front of me.

"Nothing, Jaegerjaquez." I responded. I smirked at the growl of warning heard from behind me.

The way back home was silent.

* * *

"Ok, so d'you mind actually giving me some proper answers here, 'Grimmjow'?"

My tone was laced with tiredness as I unlocked the front door, swinging it open and not bothering to look behind me as I made a beeline to my room, throwing my bag onto my bed before retracing my steps and heading into the kitchen.

I was thankful that no one else was at home right now. I didn't think I could handle any more insanity on my plate.

I glanced behind me to observe the blue haired bastard – a very _sexy _blue haired bastard, but still a fucking bastard nonetheless – glancing around him at the house, his hands still stuffed in his pockets as he slumped himself down onto the leather couch.

Fucking typical. He's acting like he owns the place.

"Maybe." Was all he responded with to my first question.

I resisted the urge to facepalm and bash my head against the fridge door as I moved to open it, my anger receding slightly when I saw some bottles of pear cider on the bottom shelving.

_Great. That's just what I need right now._

"You want a drink?" I called out as I picked up a bottle. He gave some sort of noncommittal grunt in response.

Taking that as a 'yes', I grabbed a bottle for him too. Though I didn't know why I should be displaying any form of hospitality towards him, seeing as he'd done nothing but make me feel like shit these past two days.

Walking back to the couch I threw him his drink which he effortlessly caught in his hand. My eyes widened slightly at the impressive reflexes before I moved to sit down next to him, being careful to keep as much distance as I possibly could.

He smirked, uncapping the lid and taking a long drink of the cold alcoholic beverage. I uncapped the lid of my own drink and took a few sips of the refreshing liquid. A few minutes of silence passed.

"Well, it's like I said. I'm a part of you." He spoke up after a moment, his rough edged voice once more making me shift a little from where it sounded so clear and close next to me.

"That doesn't exactly give me much to go by." I pointed out, turning to look at him.

An irate 'tch…' passed his lips. He turned his head to gaze steadily at me, his cyan blue eyes once more boring into mine with cold disregard.

"I'm explainin', calm the fuck down. I'm a part of you, piece of you, whatever ya wanna call it. I s'pose it's more like the physical representation of yer inner self."

I paused from where I was about to take another sip of my drink.

"What, you mean like an ego?" I questioned.

He rolled his eyes.

"_Now_ ya get it…" He grumbled.

I grit my teeth again.

"Well _excuse me_, but it's not like you were giving me straight answers to begin with! And what's this about you being a 'physical representation of my inner self'?! I'm nothing like you!"

He raised a blue eyebrow in amusement.

"Ya sure about that?" He smirked. I stopped, frowning, as he leant forwards a little from where he was reclining against the back of the couch. He slid his gaze casually to stare directly into my eyes. I swallowed thickly, downing the rest of my drink.

I was about to ask him what he possibly meant by that when I was interrupted again.

"And I'd say that yer friend is goin' through the same problem right about now." He continued.

My eyes widened.

"Shit! Charlotte!" I gasped, jumping up and racing back into my room, hastily retrieving my laptop. I was about to reply to her email before I was cut off earlier today.

Beginning to already freak out of my mind at not having replied to her, scared that she probably had something happen to her and she had been trying to contact me for a while now, I jumped back onto the couch and opened up the computer, hastily bringing up my email.

Biting my lip I noticed that I had one new message from her, this time asking if anything had happened to me as she hadn't heard back from me for a while.

I groaned, bringing a hand to my forehead and sighing heavily.

"This is all your fault." I mumbled.

The man next to me merely shrugged, snorting a laugh as he finished off his drink.

Leaning my elbows on my knees and rubbing my eyes with my hands, I took a deep breath.

"If you're my… ego… then how come you've suddenly materialised? Why now, of all times? Why not earlier?"

My question fell upon a dead silence. Frowning slightly, I turned to look back at the blue haired male. His gaze was averted, his eyes glancing out the window. My frown deepened.

"Grimmjow? If I didn't know any better I'd say you're avoiding answering that. Why?" I asked, my tone quiet. I was not in the mood for this.

He turned back to face me, his usual irate scowl back in place.

"I'm not." He replied stubbornly.

I raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh really?" I sneered. "Y'know you're a pretty piss-poor liar for someone who's meant to be a part of me. So what is it? Is it something you can't tell me or won't?"

His eyes narrowed, his lips pulling into a sneer to match my own.

"Both."

I groaned again, gripping my hair in frustration.

"Fine, have it your way." I mumbled under my breath. "I'm over it. As soon as I get this email sent, you're going to go back into my mind or whatever it is and never bother me again, ok? You'll be gone, and this'll all be over. I can live my life in peace and you won't be pissing me off."

I moved my fingers over the keyboard, already beginning my email.

A few seconds went by. Grimmjow's voice, when he spoke again, was so quiet that I could barely hear it even over the gentle tapping of my fingers on the keys.

"Actually, I don't think that's gonna work somehow. We can't go back."

My fingers abruptly stopped.

"What?!" I exclaimed, turning my head back around to face him.

His gaze was focused on the opposite wall, and it appeared to me that he was doing his best to avoid eye contact.

"What do you mean?" I tried again, all sense of anger now fading to be replaced with blind fear.

"Exactly what I said." He replied, just as quietly as before.

I blinked, trying to fathom his response. Then the second part of his previous sentence struck me.

"Wait…" I whispered, my voice wavering, "who's 'we'?"

He merely slid his gaze down to the computer screen.

Also turning my gaze to the laptop, it was only a few brief seconds before a loud groan of despair left my lips.

"No…" I quickly deleted my previous message, my fingers now moving faster across the keys with desperate urgency.

"No, no, _no_!"

* * *

_Hey Char,_

_Sorry I haven't had time to write you back about the other email yet. That can wait – we have problems. If I'm right about this, and if what this bastard here says is true, your ego has also materialised. Don't ask me about it. Is there a place we can meet up? You might want to bring your new friend along too. _

_Laura_

* * *

I took another deep breath before I pressed 'send'.

"You've really fucked up my life, you know that?" I muttered as I chanced a sidewards glimpse to my so-called 'ego'.

For once he didn't respond with his usual snarky remarks. He just slid his glance to look back at me again before returning his gaze to the window.

Resting my chin against my hand I let out a huff of a sigh. Trailing my eyes over the blue haired male, I found myself once again wondering just how in the hell any of this ever happened in the first place.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

If I hadn't been convinced before, I was now indeed and without a doubt utterly insane. The rather calm and rugged man lounging on my loveseat was claiming to be a part of me. No, not just any part but the most secret and inner part that no one knew about, my secret desires.

Apparently, I thought, my eyes combing over his lean frame, my inner desires were fucking hot.

"I heard that." He said out loud, turning his glacier-like gaze on me. I gulped audibly.

"It wasn't for you to hear." I mumbled, only slightly offended. After all, I had drank half the rum bottle at this point, I didn't care if the figment of my imagination knew I wanted to fuck his brains out. Because one couldn't fuck a figment… could they? Hmmm, it almost made me want to try.

"Charlotte," his voice cut through my inner musings, and I flushed quickly as I realized he probably just heard all of that, "your inner desires are supposed to be attractive to you, which is why I have manifested like this."

"It's not exactly helping the situation if you don't mind me saying so. If I'm going to imagine shit though I'm glad you're at least good looking. That can be the silver lining on my schizophrenic cloud." I raked my hands through my hair and plopped down next to him. "So tell me again, make me understand." My voice pleaded with him, thinking maybe if I heard it enough times I would understand and comprehend it.

He cleared his throat and refilled his glass, the ice cubes clinking musically as he lifted it to his pale pink lips. When he lowered the glass droplets glistened there, and his soft tongue shot out to catch them. Mentally I cursed at him again and was rewarded with a wan smile.

"I apologize for your discomfort, but do not expect it to get any better." He dipped his shaggy head. "As I told you, I am part of you, everything you desire secretly deep in your mind and heart."

"So I want a hot alcoholic?" I asked teasingly.

He smiled slightly, showing his rather pointed incisors. "Ah, perhaps, but I am more than that."

"Why are you here? If you are part of me then why are you," I gestured to him, "outside of me?"

"Ah." He dropped his gaze and shifted uncomfortably. "I am afraid I cannot answer that. You must figure it out."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"All I know is you're lazy, you like booze and you are deliciously fuckable. And somehow this has to do with me?" My voice, raised slightly, trembled at the end.

"I wish I could tell you." He said almost sadly, his voice low. "You will need to figure it out, and right now," he raised an eyebrow at the rum bottle sitting on the table in front of us, "I don't think you are in any shape to."

I groaned and laid my head on a pillow, my knees drawn up. Tapping my phone several times I quickly got to my email.

* * *

_Hey Char,_

_Sorry I haven't had time to write you back about the other email yet. That can wait – we have problems. If I'm right about this, and if what this bastard here says is true, your ego has also materialised. Don't ask me about it. Is there a place we can meet up? You might want to bring your new friend along too. _

_Laura_

* * *

My hand flew to my mouth as I gasped. Starrk's eyebrow rose in question and then a knowing and sad smile crept across his angular features.

"You!" I glared at him accusingly, "did you know about this?!"

He shook his head dubiously. "I thought it may happen but did not know for sure. It seems your friend is having the same problem."

I clutched my head and curled into myself. No, this wasn't happening. Laura and I were both having mental breaks at the same time? The likelihood of that was slim to none, which meant that we weren't going insane, what we were experiencing was real and true.

Real and true.

The words rebounded in my head like a lead wrecking ball. Was I truly sitting here, face to face, drinking rum with my ego? My deepest desires, my basest wants manifested? Could this even be possible? Groaning I curled myself into an even tighter ball, thinking furiously at myself that no way was this possible and when I opened my eyes he would be gone.

Cautiously I cracked one eye open and grunted in annoyance when I found a cool blue eye peering into mine. Starrk had lowered himself down to the floor and was studying my face intensely.

"What?" I mumbled, annoyed.

"You are quite pleasing to look at when you aren't scrunching your eyebrows." He placed a finger gently on my forehead. I shot daggers at him through my eyes.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me." I tossed out, voice laced with more venom than I meant it to be. He winced visibly and I felt bad, but not bad enough to apologize. Looking back down at my phone, I began tapping out a reply email.

* * *

_Laura,_

_Lovely, yours is a bastard for real then? Mine is a lazy pile of worthless, and he isn't telling me much. Yes let's meet, preferably somewhere where there aren't too many people. I look weird talking to myself. I will bring him… his name is Coyote Starrk._

_I am still hoping this is simply a terrible dream, and if it's real there isn't enough rum in the world to make it ok._

_Charlotte_

* * *

"So," I turned to him, my hazel eyes sizing him up, "you are my ego, which represents my wants conscious and unconscious?" He nodded. "How do I get you to go back to where you came from?"

"You can't. We," he gestured to my cell, "have to be put back by you."

"How?"

"I do not know." He said softly.

"I could be stuck with you forever?"

He nodded and I felt my mouth flop open. Oh for fuck's sake, there was no way I could deal with this permanently.

"I'm going to bed, make yourself at home." I mumbled.

Getting up I felt warmth rush to my head and realized I had drank more than I thought. Grinning stupidly I headed for the bathroom only to hear the soft padding of feet behind me. I knew he was there but I ignored him as I got ready for bed; until it came time to get into bed.

He was there, under the covers, his body bare. His chest perfectly sculpted, the covers fell just beneath his navel and I felt my mouth water. He tilted his head and smirked, eyes laughing and his chocolate brown hair brushing his chin. He was perfection, and in my bed, and the proof that I was mentally unstable.

"You're not sleeping in my bed." I said pointedly. Sex god or not he could sleep on the couch.

"No? The couch is too small." He practically whined.

"No." I pointed to the living room.

"I am already in bed, _you_ sleep on the couch."

"Why! You arrogant ego!" I yelled, yanking the covers off of him, which proved to be a mistake.

To my utter surprise and embarrassment he was naked.

Completely and utterly spectacularly naked.

"Why are you naked?!" I stumbled backwards in shock and awe of what I was seeing.

"We always sleep naked?" He sounded confused. _Get a grip,_ I thought to myself. _Yeah I'd like to get a grip on that..._ an unwanted thought flew through my head and I moaned when he chuckled, realizing he had heard it too.

"We?" I squeaked. He still hadn't covered himself up.

"Well, yeah." He scratched his chin. "You sleep naked and I am part of you so I sleep naked."

"Not tonight." I grumbled. "And if you're going to sleep naked you can do it on the couch. Put some pants on." I demanded, my cheeks burning red as I watched him get out of the bed. His hips dipping into a perfect V in the front, his rather impressive cock dangling from a nest of rich brown curls, feeling my cheeks flame I quickly turned around.

"J-just hurry it up!" I barked. I heard the covers rustle and assumed he was back in bed, turning around I eyed him.

"Are you coming?"

I sighed, this was a losing battle. I changed quickly in the bathroom and slipped into the bed next to him.

"I _have_ seen you naked you know." He said softly in the darkness.

"You... what?"

"I am part of you, so I have seen all of you." He said as if he were speaking about the weather.

"Starrk."

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep, I can't… handle any more of this." My voice bitter I curled onto my side, my back facing him and I let my tears slowly fall onto my pillow as the pull of sleep took me under.

Some time in the middle of the night I woke up and was enveloped in strong, warm arms. Slow and steady breathing tickled my ear and my legs were entwined with someone else's. I felt… safe.

"S'warm..." I mumbled and felt the press of lips against my temple. My brain still in its lucid state and pulling me back into sleep I uttered a single word before giving in.

"Starrk."


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Another silence passed, the sound of the clock's ticking seeming to fill the room with an almost unbearable intensity.

I heaved another sigh, my fingers laced in front of me and pressed against my chin as I leant my elbows on the coffee table. My mind was continuing to reel from the new information I had acquired, everything simply just far too _impossible _to understand.

I was convinced I was in some sort of dream world – there was just absolutely NO way that something like this could happen in reality, yet as my gaze slid towards my now silent companion sitting next to me, Grimmjow's eyes still trained on the view outside of the window, I was painfully reminded once more that all of this was most certainly far too real. Unnervingly so.

"I still don't get it." My voice was quiet, my irritated tone now gone to be replaced with defeated weariness. The blue haired man slowly turned his head to glance at me, his expression no longer carrying its familiar irate scowl. Rather, he appeared to be feeling just as over this as I was.

"How many more times do ya want me to say it?" He snapped back, yet his rough voice held no air of real bite to it. He sounded tired. I sighed again, burying my head in my hands and rubbing my eyes.

"Until you tell me what you mean by 'you can't go back'. I mean, you materialised. Somehow. And now you can't simply go back to my mind… that just… doesn't make sense."

A faint snort of annoyance passed from his lips. He leant forwards so his hands were resting over his knees, my head turning to eye him out of the corner of my vision. His gaze was fixed on the opposite wall.

"Nothin' ever makes sense with you." Came the quiet reply. Despite myself, a faint laugh pulled from my throat.

"Can't argue with that." I mused, smiling a little. He snorted again, though a small grin pulled at his lips in response.

Another silence passed.

Huffing another loud sigh I slowly removed myself from the couch, stretching my arms above my head and stifling a yawn. Glancing at the clock I noted the time was 7pm. I groaned faintly.

_It's only 7 and already I'm this tired? For fuck's sake. This conversation must have taken more out of me than I thought._

I paused from where I was about to lean down and pick up the empty cider bottles. My brow furrowed.

"If just sittin' here and talkin' is enough to make you exhausted, I hate to think what physical exercise would do to you. Have I ever mentioned that you need to get outta the house more?"

Rolling my eyes I turned to face the blue haired bastard smirking at me from the couch. I contemplated throwing one of the cider bottles at his head, but decided against it when I remembered the impressive reflexes he had shown earlier. Instead I settled on seething at him, the smug look on his face making my cheeks flush lightly with angered embarrassment once more. The fact that I was already tired didn't help matters.

"Shut it, you asshole." I hissed, turning around and storming into the kitchen to dispose of the bottles in the bin. Growling faintly and slamming the lid shut I turned back and rounded on him.

"Why do you even care so much about that, anyways?" I asked, my voice rising an octave in my frustration. "You do nothing but make me feel like shit with your smart-ass comments and your arrogant attitude, and you go out of your way to treat me like dirt. I sure as hell can't see why you're my 'ego', because last I checked, I don't _insult _someone on a regular everyday basis! Especially if it's someone I don't even know!" My gaze was livid, and the narrowing of cyan blue eyes to bore into mine with that same cold disregard did absolutely nothing to quell my pissed off mood.

I continued to hold my gaze with his as he slowly got up off the couch, his long strides enabling him to cross over to where I was standing in the kitchen with reasonable speed. Despite myself I could feel my cheeks heat up again, though not entirely with anger this time. I gulped thickly, willing myself to not back down and give this dickhead the satisfaction of seeing me squirm under that intense azure gaze.

His lips were curled down into a sneer, his eyes narrowed, and suddenly I found that as he stepped closer towards me I realised that whoever this man was… he was dangerous.

I shivered a little.

"What?" I ground out through my teeth, willing my cheeks to cool as he crossed his arms over his chest, drawn up to his full height and staring me down rather intimidatingly. I was trembling, but I tried not to show it.

The next thing that left my lips was a high-pitched shriek, and I almost jumped a good ten feet into the air when out of nowhere his hand came slamming down onto the bench top by my arm, its loud _smack _reverberating in my eardrums. He leaned in closer so I was effectively boxed in, and I bit back a faint noise of protest when he lowered his head so all I could see were the endless blue depths of his eyes, our faces inches apart. I blinked, swallowing thickly.

_He has really nice eyes._

Said eyes narrowed and I bit my lip, tempted to kick myself if only I wasn't so paralysed by fear – my heart almost ready to give out with how fast it was beating.

"J-just get away from me." I stammered, his body so close I could feel its warmth radiating over me and that same spiced cinnamon scent from before washing over my senses.

"Listen up, and listen good." He began, ignoring my obvious displeasure and embarrassment with the current predicament. A strangled noise left my throat at his viciously harsh tone. I swallowed again.

"You need a real reality check, Laura. All ya do is complain and bitch about yerself, so what do you expect when you created me? I'm nothin' but the inner desires of your mind, so what does that say about ya? Huh? Learn to be fuckin' happy with your miserable self fer once and maybe, just _maybe_, I might start treatin' you with a little respect." He sneered, pulling away and striding back over to the couch.

A few moments of silence went by.

I was shaking – caught between making strangled gasps and cursing at myself for the pangs of hurt flowing through me. Grimmjow's words cut through to me and stabbed my heart like a cruel, sharp blade. But what hurt me the most, was that I realised he was right.

"Shit…" I whispered, my voice wavering.

I raised my head, throwing a venomous glance in his direction. He had sat back down on the couch, his arms folded behind his head as he leant back, his legs kicked out and crossed over one another on the coffee table. His eyes were still trained on me, a rather pointed expression of both smugness and loathing fired in my direction. I felt my stomach churn and I closed my eyes, gripping my forehead and taking another shaking breath.

_Fuck. You're right. Grimmjow, I know you can hear this so don't make it worse by responding._

As I opened my eyes once more I could practically feel those eyes of his still burning into mine. Mercifully he had the sense to remain quiet as I walked back over to my computer, the beeping trill coming from it signalling that I had received a new email.

Sighing quietly I sat down, not bothering to give the man next to me any further acknowledgement. I clicked the new message from Charlotte and read what had been sent to me.

* * *

_Laura,_

_Lovely, yours is a bastard for real then? Mine is a lazy pile of worthless, and he isn't telling me much. Yes let's meet, preferably somewhere where there aren't too many people. I look weird talking to myself. I will bring him… his name is Coyote Starrk._

_I am still hoping this is simply a terrible dream, and if it's real there isn't enough rum in the world to make it ok._

_Charlotte_

* * *

I regarded the email carefully for a moment, lost deep in my thoughts. My mind felt like it was ready to explode, my whole body roiling with my forced epiphany.

From next to me, I was faintly aware of Grimmjow having leant forward to inspect the email as well, his eyes darting from one word to the next as he looked at the screen. His brows furrowed faintly into a deeper scowl.

"Do you know that 'Coyote Starrk' guy?" I asked quietly, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears. He slid his gaze back to me before shaking his head, leaning against the couch once more.

"Nah."

Nodding faintly, I began typing away. Another silence fell over the two of us, the keys providing the only form of relief from the tense atmosphere. Lifting my eyes to glance back over what I had written, I double checked to make sure the email was suitable.

* * *

_Char,_

_Yes, he is. But I think he's helped knock some sense into me. No, not literally, but figuratively. Though I can see him doing it literally as well. His name's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Bright blue hair, cyan eyes, and with a destructive attitude like a prissy house cat. Sounds like one too. _

_How about we meet up at the park at around 4pm tomorrow? There aren't too many people around then. Hopefully this 'Coyote Starrk' guy of yours is at least more polite than who I have here._

_Unfortunately I'm learning bit by painful bit that this is as real as my dwindling sanity levels. I know there's no chance in hell you'll be willing to share your rum, but if you're feeling generous can I reserve a glass, or maybe 10?_

_See you tomorrow_

_Laura_

* * *

As I clicked 'send', I heard the contemptuous snort coming from the blue haired man next to me.

"Prissy house cat?" He echoed. I nodded, closing my laptop. I buried my head in my hands for a moment.

"Thank you, by the way." My voice was barely audible. He could evidently still hear me though as I felt him shift a little on the couch. As my gaze lifted up to lock my eyes with his, I found that he was looking at me with a blue eyebrow raised in a show of confusion and wariness.

"For what?" He growled out.

I stood up, picking my laptop up as I did so. I could hear the faint rumble of a car slowly approaching the driveway from outside, the yellow glare of headlights seeping through the window's shades seconds later. My parents had just arrived home from work. For once thankful that this man was visible to only myself, seeing as I would be flayed alive by my mother and father if they opened the door to see me at home with a stranger – especially one like him – I allowed another sigh to fall from my lips as I began heading towards my room. I heard him stand from the couch, his footfalls echoing along the tiled floor behind me as he followed.

"For making me realise why I subconsciously created you, I guess. That verbal kick up the ass was just what I needed." I could almost feel the raising of eyebrows from Grimmjow at my statement as I dumped my laptop down onto my bed. I slowly turned around, facing him. Sure enough, his expression was dumbfounded, his face devoid of the anger which I had come to associate him always showing.

I gave a faint smile, taking a shallow breath. As I walked by him I reached out and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it in a comforting action. He eyed me with suspicion in his blue eyes. I ignored the delightfully warm feel of his skin and the muscled limb under my touch, removing my hand and heading back out into the living room, the front door opening and my parents filing through inside seconds later.

* * *

Lifting my arms above my head and stretching a little I stifled a yawn as I picked up my hair tie, sweeping my brown locks back into a loose bun. I cast another glance at myself in the bathroom mirror, my reflection gazing tiredly back. Rubbing a hand over my eyes I exited, switching off the light and walking back into my room.

I made sure to shut the door and lock it behind me, huffing another sigh at everything that had occurred today. I was still fuming at what that dickhead of an ego had said to me earlier, yet I was surprised that I was able to find some peace with what had been explained. After all, it made perfect sense. I had mulled over the situation throughout dinner, and now I had started to find myself coming to terms with this crazy fiasco.

_Finally._

"Tell me about it. Yer so fuckin' dense sometimes."

I gave a faint murmur of agreement to Grimmjow's words, leaning my head against the door for a moment before slowly turning around and making to sit down on my bed. It was 9pm and despite how early it was, I was dead tired. As I lifted my head however, my eyes widened and I felt myself stammering, my mouth gaping wide open.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!" I tried desperately to keep a reign on my quickening embarrassment, hoping to God that my parents hadn't heard that outburst as I clapped my hands to my mouth. All I received was a raised eyebrow and a rolling of blue eyes in response. Willing my cheeks to cool down I quickly averted my gaze to the bedspread, the window, _anything _but at the blue haired beast currently laid out on my bed without his shirt on.

And try as I might, my eyes kept on finding their way back to the perfectly sculpted ridges of his muscles, his toned 6 pack-sporting torso looking so delectable and that, combined with his unruly hair ruffled up messily, stray locks brushing over his forehead as he gazed at me with that annoyed expression from where his head was against the pillow, made him look the absolute embodiment of pure sin itself. I felt my cheeks flush even brighter, and as my eyes went down a bit lower, gazing hungrily over every tanned inch of that muscled, powerful physique on display, the tantalising V shape of his pelvis line dipping down under his navel, I was so fucking glad that he at least had the decency to be wearing pants.

I was also thankful that a box of tissues was nearby, as I could feel the beginning of both a metaphorical and literal nosebleed forming.

"What does it look like I'm fuckin' doin'?"

I shook my head, snapping my gaze back up to meet those brilliant blue eyes of his which were now seeming to glimmer with a deep smug amusement. His lips were pulled apart into a knowing grin, and I let out a loud groan of frustration.

_Great. Next thing he'll be telling me he's going to be sleeping with me tonight or something._

'You won't be disappointed, then.'

I let out another loud groan, sighing heavily and going to sit myself down on the edge of my bed, trying to keep a safe enough distance from him to ensure I maintained that last small ounce of sanity I had left.

"Why?" I asked quietly, huffing and falling back against the mattress, my eyes gazing determinedly at the ceiling. Anything to avoid looking at that literal molten sex on legs currently lying down next to me.

"'Cos ya normally sleep in yer bed? I'm a part of you, remember. Christ I really can't believe how dense you are sometimes." His rough edged voice was agitated once more, his derisive scoff sounding close by to my ears.

Trying to control my pounding heart I took levelled breaths before finally willing myself enough courage to chance a look at him. I felt my heart seem to stop as my eyes fell to meet those blue orbs which were gazing intently into mine once more, a few stray strands of blue locks crossing over his face and making him look every bit the dangerous, wild feline-like male that he seemed to be.

My mouth went dry.

_Fuck._

He smirked, his cat-like incisors showing faintly. I felt myself become weak-headed.

"Just… shut up for a moment, I wanna say something." I stammered. His expression smoothed over into a look of impatience as he waited for me to continue. I did so, though with some effort.

"So I… I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier, and it makes sense. You told me that you're my 'ego' right? The physical manifestation of my innermost self and desires?"

I paused. He nodded, clearly irritated with where this conversation was heading. Taking another breath I continued, a faint smile pulling at my lips.

"Well it makes sense. Deep down I've always hated how negatively I view myself, and I've always wished that I could have a more bold, powerful personality. And I guess having you manifest as a hot guy with a destructive attitude is my mind's way of getting back at me. It's like you said… as soon as I start learning to respect myself, the sooner you will start respecting me. I guess I've subconsciously needed someone like you in my life to help me get my shit together. And I'm… glad it worked out the way it did. Though if you'd quit it with the fucking attitude problem it would be even better."

My voice was barely audible as I said this, my eyes quickly flicking back up to the ceiling, my cheeks burning even hotter under his scrutinising gaze. A few seconds of silence went by.

"I can't decide whether that was actually sweet of you or just fuckin' cheesy."

Groaning again I reached behind me to grab the pillow under my head and I swatted it at him. He sniggered, effortlessly beating the offending object out of the way. Huffing, I reached down to pick it up, replacing it back against the headboard.

"Just shut up you dickhead. I was being serious." I murmured. A deep chuckle was his response, and I involuntarily found myself shivering a little at the wild purring sound.

"I'm too tired for this shit. Goodnight." I murmured, reaching over and turning out the light.

In any other case I would have been scared shitless about sharing a bed with a complete and utter stranger, but as I rested my head against my pillow and closed my eyes, the room encased in complete darkness, I found myself hardly caring anymore. Besides, it wasn't like he was a complete and utter stranger, was he? If my mind wasn't as tired and drained as it was, it would have startled me at how quickly I had seemed to accept this sudden 'ego' situation. As I curled up under the blanket, I could feel my blue haired tormentor next to me making himself comfortable under the covers as well, and I couldn't help the faint smile on my lips as his muscled form touched against my body, seeming to send a jolting sensation of warmth through my spine and limbs from the contact.

I could feel myself slipping into the clutches of sleep, but before I lost my sense of lucidity, I was struck by another thought.

"Hey, Grimmjow?" I murmured sleepily.

"What?"

My grin became wider.

"If you touch me in my sleep I'll rip your cock off."

Laughing at his scoffed snort of amusement which followed my subtle warning, I slipped away into the unconsciousness of the night.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It had been hell and a half to get Starrk to even wake up much less move. I had found that cold water did nothing to the man except drench my bed, so finally I had managed to find some ammonia and put the soaked washcloth under his nose. Much to his annoyance and my delight that had done the trick, and we were at the park where I had arranged to meet Laura and her 'companion'.

Sneaking a look at Starrk who was striding along beside me I was hit with the thought that he really was an impressive sight, and damn gorgeous. His brown hair catching the light and showing his faint red highlights, a lazy grin on his face showing the flash of his pointed white incisors, the smell of forest and pine wafted off of him and his stride was easy. The man was sex made into flesh, flesh that I had to keep reminding myself came from my mind.

"I am glad you think so." He rumbled from his chest as he dragged a large hand through his hair.

Ah fuck me, I forgot he's inside of me… _now isn't that a statement? I have a hot guy literally inside of me in all the ways I don't want._

Beside me said hot guy snorted.

"Can it wolf boy." I grumbled and shoved my hands in my pockets, willing myself not to think anything dirty. It was damn hard with such an amazing specimen next to me.

Thankfully I saw Laura up ahead on a bench - I recognized her from her description and the clothes she told me she would wear. Beside her I saw a shock of bright blue hair... Grimmjow? That hair color didn't occur in nature and no matter how good the stylist was no dye job could be this well done either. He must have caught sight of us because he turned around and fixed me with a vivid gaze and a feral grin. I felt my stomach drop. Fuck, he radiated danger. Unconsciously I stepped closer to Starrk who simply wrapped his arm around my waist, a protective snarl emanating from his mouth. Shocked, I looked from him to Grimmjow, who was smiling at us quite smugly and Laura's eyes that were now the size of saucers.

"Oi you two, quit posturing and comparing the size of your dicks. We're here to help each other, not start a cat fight!" I said, exasperated already.

"Forgive me mi amiga." Starrk said under his breath. "I was simply ensuring your safety."

What the? When had he ever cared about my safety before?

'I have always cared.' His rolling voice echoed in my mind.

"Alright Laura." I said, lowering myself onto the bench next to my fellow would-be-crazy-except-this-is-happening-to-both-of-us newfound friend. "What the fuck is going on?"

* * *

Absentmindedly watching the lines of cars going back and forth along the streets ahead, the drone of the afternoon city bustle reaching my ears even from this spot where I was now seated in the park, I couldn't help but think that every moment spent waiting for Charlotte and this 'Coyote Starrk' guy to arrive was a severe drain on my nerves.

Well, to be more accurate, it was testing both my nerves and my attention levels.

Stifling a yawn I stretched and settled myself back against the wooden seat, my gaze lifting to the boughs of the trees currently above my head and watching as the green leaves swayed in the afternoon breeze. God I was bored.

"What say we just skip this shit and head back home, yeah?"

I nodded my head, giving a faint murmur of agreement to Grimmjow's words, the blue haired tormentor of mine pacing back and forth in an agitated manner in front of me. My gaze slid to face him, watching his features form into their usual permanent irate scowl as he heaved an annoyed sigh, sticking his hands in his pockets and turning his head to look at me expectantly. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was currently eager to get this over and done with.

"For once I'm inclined to agree with you." I mentioned quietly, a faint smile pulling at my lips. He scoffed in response, though his own mouth formed into a grin at my words.

"'Bout fuckin' time." He lifted his arms above his head, stretching his muscled form. I felt my eyes training immediately on that powerful body as his back arched quite deliciously whilst he did so, and I felt my cheeks flush with heat when I looked up and saw his cyan eyes glancing lazily into mine.

"F-fuck." I stammered. A bark of laughter was his response, Grimmjow sniggering as he brought his arms back down. Trying my best to ignore this bastard who was currently teasing me, I decided to change the subject.

"Not for nothing, but you seem… happier... today. I mean, you're still an asshole, but you're being less of an asshole than you are normally." I spoke up conversationally, resting my chin in my palm as I leant my elbows on my knees.

My mind momentarily found itself recounting the past day, and how not one thing had been said between us which had turned into a full-blown argument from this morning upon waking up, until this very moment waiting for the other two to arrive. He had even been smart enough to avoid touching me in my sleep, which I was quite pleased over. Though perhaps slightly disappointed at. But at least I had found a valid threat to keep him at bay with for next time if he was willing to try that. Guys do only care about their dicks after all.

He raised a blue eyebrow at my words.

"Well since yer finally usin' that brain o' yours and you're actually accepting the situation, I don't see why there's any reason for me to knock it into yer skull again. 'Sides, I told you the moment you quit it with the being sorry for yourself shit, I'd consider actually treating you like a human being."

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow in response. A quiet chuckle left my lips, my mouth slowly forming into a grin.

"Yeah. I guess so." I mused softly. He rolled his eyes, his own grin still in place as he turned his head to gaze behind him. I narrowed my eyes as his smile faded for a moment.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They're here." He grunted out.

Blinking, I turned my head only find that sure enough, two people were approaching us. I gave a small wave to Charlotte as I recognised her form drawing closer, but as I moved my eyes to take in the figure of the man next to her, I felt my eyes widening and my mouth almost ready to gape open.

"So _that's _the guy…" I murmured under my breath.

He was tall, roughly about the same height as Grimmjow, and as I looked at his waves of shoulder length brown hair, his chin adorned with a small goatee and his eyes seemingly half-lidded in an expression of weariness, I found myself thinking that without a doubt, this guy surely was every bit the lazy unmotivated male that my friend had described him to be. I blinked when I heard what sounded remarkably like a snarl coming from the man's lips, this 'Starrk' guy wrapping his arm around Charlotte's waist, both of their eyes glancing to my blue haired companion. Continuing to blink in confusion I chanced a gaze at Grimmjow as well, only to find his lips pulled apart into a feral grin, his eyes wild. I tried to remind myself that this was perhaps _not _the best time to start getting somewhat pleasurable tingles down my spine, and I blushed furiously, my cheeks becoming heated in anger.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, the two drawing closer. He looked back to me, his cyan blue eyes gazing intently into my own. I swallowed thickly.

"Nothin'. Just makin' sure." He shrugged. I narrowed my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my tone laced with suspicion. His scowl was once more back in place, his gaze diverted to Charlotte and her 'companion' from where they had stopped in front of us.

"Oi you two, quit posturing and comparing the size of your dicks. We're here to help each other, not start a cat fight!" Charlotte's agitated tone rang out. blinked, turning my gaze to her as she looked at me, taking a seat next to me on the chair. As she did so, the meaning of her words hit me and I chanced another sidewards gaze at Grimmjow.

_Were you… seriously being 'protective' just then?_

An irate 'tch…' passed his lips and he growled faintly, his eyes hard when they glanced back at me. I tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to hide the blush on my cheeks and the smug smirk on my lips as I turned back to my friend.

_That's really sweet of you, Grimmjow._

'Shut the fuck up.'

Biting back a snort of laughter I turned my attention once more to Charlotte.

"Alright Laura, what the fuck is going on?"

Her expression was both tired and annoyed, and I found myself heaving a massive sigh as I rubbed my face with my hands, glancing first from the brown haired man who was standing next to her, and then to Grimmjow who had his arms crossed over his chest, his expression impatient and his head turned to the side to gaze at the cars still moving past on the roads.

"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine." I groaned out, turning back to face her.

* * *

Both women pinned their eyes on their friend's respective egos, unsure if the other was real. Shockingly it was discovered that they were able to see each other's and communicate with them, Laura lapsing into an easy greeting with Starrk who regarded her lazily and mentally wondered if she would let him sleep in, which earned him a kick to the shin from Charlotte.

Grimmjow was another matter entirely; where Starrk was lazy, the overgrown housecat was cranky and untrusting of the newcomers. It didn't bother Starrk as much as it bothered his person, and as he was made aware of this a small snarl slid past his pale pink lips, warning Grimmjow he was not to be taken lightly. Reluctantly the big cat nodded his recognition of the woman and then crossed his arms with an audible 'tsk'.

The two women went over the basics, their brunette heads bent together in quick conversation as all formalities and semblance of sanity was lost amongst their words. Their egos had materialized at about the same time and both claimed the same things, that they were their innermost selves.

Charlotte was agitated to have such a lazy side to her personality, and Laura laughed as Charlotte seemed embarrassed by it despite how hardworking she actually was. Her friend was working in the emergency room as a nurse and was advancing her degree by distance learning, which she knew was no easy feat, yet she had a rather handsome and half asleep brown haired male as part of her. Charlotte also explained this was why they were late, as getting Starrk up was troublesome and she had to resort to ammonia and a washcloth in order to get his lazy ass into gear. Grimmjow barked out a laugh at that morsel of information and mentally reminded Laura that at least he wasn't trying to sleep all the time.

_I kind of wish you would sometimes, _she bit back in response, to which he simply smirked.

On the other hand, Laura was expressing her tired annoyance at having such a destructive mindset, the result of this being the blue haired man who had done nothing but effectively argue and insult her both inside of her head, and even now upon materialising outside of her mind. The two women deduced that this side of the University student was because of pent-up stress from her assignments, coupled with her less-than satisfactory home life. She was prone to being short-tempered, and it seemed that Grimmjow was the exact embodiment of everything negative she thought both about herself and about other matters which drove her up the wall. Hence why his appearance was so wild and positively radiated dangerous intent.

Charlotte was fighting the urge to run her hands through Grimmjow's hair, it looked so soft and his whole demeanor reminded her of a panther. In fact, she was sure she was still drunk – she hadn't stopped drinking since the night before. Tentatively she reached out to stroke the soft blue hair as Grimmjow eyed her warily and Laura sat stiff as a board, no doubt waiting for her ego to do something stupid. To everyone – including Grimmjow's – surprise, he let her pet him, scratching behind his ears and he felt a rumble deep in his chest as a purr vibrated in his throat.

"Soft kitty." She cooed as she continued to scratch him. Laura was in shock, the angry aspect of her purring!

'Quit actin' surprised, I told ya already. Ya need ta love yerself more, and let others love ya.'

She face palmed as she realized what her friend had done. In one rum induced move Charlotte had given her ego, the angry and agitated part of herself, love and affection. She sized Starrk up, unsure if there was anything she could do to help with Charlotte's 'problem'. He regarded her with hooded eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Sighing, Laura rubbed her hands over her eyes, yawning a little as she did so.

"You look as tired as I feel." She mumbled. At this, Starrk nodded, running a hand through his brown hair.

"Ah, that you are right about." He replied, a heavy sigh falling from his lips. This earned a comment from Laura vaguely wondering if perhaps their egos had somehow gotten mixed up and she was meant to be stuck with Starrk instead, which in turn resulted in the two laughing aloud. A faint growl coming from Laura's right turned her attention back to Grimmjow, whose head was faced towards Starrk with a decidedly irritated expression, though his eyes were clearly fixed upon his human with an intense warning gaze laced with something else she couldn't quite fathom.

_Were you… 'growling' at me? _She silently asked him, blinking. He didn't respond. Deciding she would rather not mess with him she cleared her throat, drawing the attention back to her.

Their egos had to be by their side constantly Starrk revealed, which is why they had both insisted on sleeping in the bed at night. Charlotte groaned as she relayed to Laura that Starrk preferred to sleep naked because that's how she normally slept, a blush coloring her cheeks as she spoke and Laura knew exactly why. After all, if she had to sleep naked next to Grimmjow, well, she didn't know what would happen.

"You didn't seem to mind." Starrk pointed out casually sending Charlotte into a choking fit and Grimmjow into snorts of laughter.

"Y-y-I made you put pants on!" She huffed indignantly. "Come on Laura, let's go get some food, I see some trucks over there. You two," she glared at both men with what Laura called her 'nurse look', "stay put." Laura found herself being dragged upwards and stumbling forwards glanced back at their egos, who now appeared more relaxed with their joint departure.

* * *

A brief silence passed between the two males as they watched Charlotte and Laura head off, both ice and cyan blue eyes narrowing faintly. When they had ascertained the pair were safely out of earshot, Starrk turned his lazy gaze to Grimmjow, who had moved to seat himself down on the bench.

"It is hard to believe that you are really the materialisation of her inner self." He noted, raising a brown eyebrow as he carefully observed the wild looking male, Grimmjow lifting his gaze and a faint irritated noise escaping his lips.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either. Same can be said fer you an' your human though, can't it? You really are a lazy bastard, that's fer sure." The blue haired man scoffed, his lips pulling apart into a feral grin yet again. Starrk gave a snort of derision, moving to seat himself down on the opposite end of the bench, his arms lacing behind his neck and his eyes closing as his shaggy head fell back against the wooden chair.

"Honestly, I find it somewhat tiring how she won't let me simply help her out. She clearly wants to rest, yet she will not allow me to suggest such things to her. In fact, it's infuriating." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. A brief snigger was the response he received, Grimmjow's grin turning smug.

"Havin' second thoughts about her already, eh?" He sneered. Starrk cracked open one pale blue eye, fixing the man next to him with a cold steely gaze.

"Oh? I don't suppose you want me to point out the tension that is so clearly keeping both you and your human apart." He rumbled quietly. At this, the blue haired male's expression turned harsh, his brows furrowing and his lips pulling apart into a vicious scowl.

"Shut the fuck up. I don't remember ever askin' _your _opinion." Grimmjow growled out harshly, his expression livid. Starrk simply gave a satisfied smile, his own gaze turning smug.

"This is exactly what I am referring to."

At this, a spluttered noise fell from Grimmjow's lips, his features frozen into a look which half radiated both anger and shock. Gritting his teeth, Grimmjow turned his head to gaze in front of him, his hands clenched tightly over his knees.

"If only she hadn't been such an idiot in the first place, none o' that woulda happened." He ground out tightly through his teeth, his rough voice quiet. Starrk closed his eyes again, a sigh falling from his lips.

"Despite what you convince yourself mi amigo, you are surprisingly defensive in your tone when speaking about her." He mused quietly, his lazy whisper barely audible. Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, his cyan blue gaze sliding to glance warily at the reclining male next to him.

"The fuck did you just say?" He asked, his eyes narrowing further.

"I said nothing, mi amigo." Starrk responded, his voice increasing in volume. He let out a stifled yawn before rubbing the back of his head with his hand again.

"This leaves us to question whether others have also materialised." The brown haired male spoke up once more after a few moments of silence. Grimmjow returned his gaze to the road in the distance, his cyan eyes watching the cars still moving past.

"I dunno. Maybe." He grunted out, shrugging.

It served to reason that since the two had materialised from their human counterparts, then there was a possibility that it had also occurred to others as well. Both Starrk and Grimmjow had suspected this, yet they had been silent in their suspicions up until now.

"I wonder how long we should leave it be until we go back?" Starrk murmured faintly. Grimmjow shifted uncomfortably on the seat, his expression still irritated yet now laced with a sense of awkwardness.

"We can't stay like this forever, after all. That would just be inconvenient for them." Starrk added, glancing at the blue haired man out of the corner of his vision, seeming to understand the source of the normally irate man's discomfort.

"I know that!" Grimmjow snapped back, his voice a low growl. He fixed a seething glare on the other man.

"Mi amigo, you know as well as I do what the consequences are of us not finding a balance with our humans. We need to return to them at some time, otherwise it would only end up causing both hurt to them and ourselves. I do not see why you are so objected to having a sexual relation with h—"

"—shut yer fucking mouth." Grimmjow's voice was cold as he cut over Starrk's words, his hands clenching once more over his lap. His expression was hard, and his cyan eyes were narrowed so that it appeared they were mere slits as he turned his head to gaze back at the brown haired man. Starrk merely narrowed his own eyes in response, his features no longer seeming tired. On the contrary he was now very much alert as he realised the reason for Grimmjow's harsh response.

"It would only cause you both pain if you do not—"

"—I know! Shut yer fucking mouth, I said!" Grimmjow's expression was now livid, his voice raising into a yell. "You don't have a problem with you an' _your_ human, so don't give me all this sympathy shit!"

Starrk blinked, his own expression steely.

"You really are a most troublesome aspect of Laura's mind. The conflict that you two have despite what you're both otherwise clearly telling each other is not going to end well if you keep this up."

An angered snarl of warning passed the blue haired man's lips, his expression darkening.

"You think I don't know that already?" He hissed. "It's not 'cos o' that that I'm against this, it's because she's so young! I suppose ya want me to just tell her what's gonna happen after everythin's all been an' done, yeah? She's not gonna take that too well!"

Starrk sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes again.

"Have it your way." He murmured. "But regardless they're both going to end up knowing, anyway."

Another angered growl passed Grimmjow's lips, his gaze focused once more ahead of him.

"And just how do ya think yers is gonna react when she knows?" Grimmjow ground out, pissed off that Starrk seemed to be having the easier time.

"Ah," he leaned back, resting his head against his hands, "she is older and more experienced. Yet, I don't see her simply 'accepting it' as she _will_ be adverse to laying with a 'figment of her imagination' as she calls me."

Grimmjow uttered another annoyed 'tsk' as silence resumed.

"They're coming back." Starrk yawned, blinking somewhat sleepily and stretching as sure enough, Charlotte and Laura were returning, their arms laden with packets of food.

Grimmjow shot him an incensed gaze, his eyes slowly focusing on Laura when she drew nearer. Sighing heavily, his expression still furious, he ran a hand through his blue locks and made to stand up moments later. Starrk continued to nap on the bench, or at least pretend to nap and was rewarded with a rather hot wrapped burger being dropped on his groin, his human glaring daggers at him. Hissing faintly, he narrowed his eyes at her, a smug smile forming on Charlotte's lips in response.

Laura caught the exchange and laughed quietly, hiding her mouth behind her hand to stifle her giggles. She blinked when Grimmjow moved closer, her ego reaching out and grabbing her firmly by the arm, pulling her away in a clear movement to indicate that he wanted to leave already. Stammering faintly, Laura turned her gaze back to Charlotte and Starrk, waving her hand and calling out in farewell as she was half-dragged away, soon falling into step beside her blue haired tormentor as they walked off.

The afternoon sun glowing over the tops of the trees as both humans and their egos went their separate ways, their minds were swimming from the information they had gleaned that day. One thing was for certain, as the two women exchanged glances with their materialised inner personas, this was an issue which was not going to be so easily resolved. In fact, they weren't so certain it ever would be.

This thought continued to ring out loud and true as they continued on. 'Crazy' didn't even begin to cut it.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The walk back home was reasonably silent, the cars on the road and the scattered groups of people passing by going unnoticed by me as my brow furrowed.

I was deep in thought, my mind working overtime to piece together what I had gathered from our meeting. Our egos had materialised at the same time… they were the embodiments of our inner selves and desires… we had successfully goaded them out, only to find that we were stuck with them for the time being… I groaned, raising a hand to my head and rubbing my eyes.

I felt overwhelmed and unable to come to any other conclusion except that we were officially screwed.

_It still doesn't make any sense. _

Beside me Grimmjow remained silent. I was thankful in a way that he had decided to keep his opinions to himself on this particular occasion, rather, as I chanced a glance at him to observe his features set in his usual scowl, his brows furrowed, I noted that he appeared to be deep in thought himself.

He hadn't said a word since we had left the park, and despite my gratitude to him for allowing me some peace and quiet, I found myself becoming slightly irritated at his lack of input. Some proper explanation would be helpful here, after all.

Giving another heavy sigh for not the first time over the past hour I ran my hands through my hair and rubbed my eyes once more.

'Careful. Ya don't wanna think too much or else you'll strain what small brain ya already have.'

I grit my teeth.

So much for peace and quiet.

_Shut up_, I hissed in my mind, shooting a seething glance to that blue haired bastard who had now fixed his eyes on me, his expression smug and a huge smirk on his lips. He simply let loose a wild rumble of laughter which resounded in my head, his eyes glinting with an inner mirth.

Gritting my teeth I felt my anger flare up once more, and I willed myself to calm down lest people noticed that I was about ready to explode and verbally lash out at what, to them, would appear to be nothing but thin air.

Taking a few deep breaths I waited a moment before speaking once more.

_Seriously, why couldn't you have spoken up before? I've been busting my gut out here trying to make sense of all this shit and the one time I actually need you, you're being all reclusive! _I ground out mentally.

My eyes were trained on his face, gauging his reaction. I was surprised when I didn't receive an insulting backlash, which was what I had come to expect from him. Instead he merely gazed steadily into my eyes in return, his expression unreadable.

I tried to stop myself from quickly glancing away, feeling my cheeks heat up once more.

A faint sigh passed his lips, his hand coming up to run through the stray blue strands of hair which had brushed over his forehead, and he turned his head to gaze back ahead of us, continuing to remain silent.

By now, I was for lack of a better word, completely and utterly confused as shit.

_Grimmjow? What's wrong?_ I asked silently, unable to keep the concern from my tone. His expression continued to remain unreadable. He didn't glance back to me, instead opting to keep looking at the street before us.

'Nothin',' was his grumbled response.

I blinked.

_What do you mean, 'nothing'? This isn't like you._

A faint annoyed hiss left his lips.

'I mean what I mean. You want answers to this whole situation, yeah? Well how the fuck can I give 'em to ya if ya won't even let me think of 'em?'

I rolled my eyes, a growl of annoyance passing my own lips to match his irritated tone.

_Fine, have it your way._

Again, much to my surprise, my comment was met with a less than expected response. He gave a weary laugh. Blinking, I turned my head back to face him. His expression was no longer fixed in its usual irate mask, rather he now looked just as tired and as over this as I was. He lifted his head a little to look up at the gold-tinted clouds, the afternoon sunset streaking across the azure blue of the sky.

As I studied his face which was now set into a look of contemplation, I found myself drawn to gazing at his normally wild looking features which seemed rather… well, _very _handsome… when he wasn't actually scowling at anything. He looked content and as if he had finally let go of that stick-up-his-ass arrogant attitude. Unable to help the faint smile on my lips I quickly diverted my gaze, my cheeks blushing furiously.

I found myself wishing that he would look relaxed like that more often. I didn't want any more arguments to tear apart my quickly dwindling sanity, and it was… really nice to have this moment of content peace between us.

"This is some fucked up crazy shit." He murmured quietly aloud. I sighed.

_Damn right_, I agreed. I chanced a quick gaze back at him. Immediately I wished I hadn't.

Feeling the heat spread over my entire face, my cheeks burned hotter when he slid his gaze down to me, his eyes no longer narrowed at me like they usually were every time he looked my way. Instead I found myself swallowing thickly when I noticed that his smile seemed to reach his eyes, his lips pulled into a slight grin and his expression truly genuine.

_He has a really nice smile._

A quiet snort of laughter fell from his lips which caused my blush to become brighter.

"Don't get all sappy on me." He scoffed out, sticking his hands in his pockets and returning his gaze to look once more ahead of him.

_S-shut up! _I stammered, likewise quickly looking back ahead of me. I felt like I could just sink into the ground and was half hoping for a hole to open up underneath my feet right now when I felt his eyes trained on me once more.

Another purr of laughter left his throat, which made me groan aloud and desperately wish I could bury my head in my hands. The only thing stopping me was that I was still walking out in public.

Realising that this was going to end up nowhere, I huffed another sigh.

_You'll tell me what you know when you feel like it… won't you? _I asked him quietly, the two of us turning a corner at the end of the street.

He was silent for an agonising moment.

'Yeah.'

I nodded faintly. I was afraid of that.

Leaving it at that, I managed a small chuckle, both of us continuing on in silence. It was some few moments before either of us spoke.

"Tch, the fuck is that?"

Blinking, I was pulled out of my reverie, my attention drawn towards my blue haired companion when his sudden outburst filled my ears. I glanced up at him, seeing his expression smug and his lips pulled wide into a feral sneer.

Trying to ignore the shivers down my spine which once more decided to make their annoying appearance, I followed my eyes to where he was looking, only to find myself raising an eyebrow when I saw the figure of what looked like a teenager roughly around my age, his hair a bright vibrant orange.

The kid was looking at a shop window, his brows pulled into a slight frown. My brows raising higher, I glanced back at Grimmjow.

_If you're referring to his hair colour, I think you should take a look at yourself, Jaegerjaquez. Blue hair is about as natural as that orange._

A scoffed snort of laughter was his response, my tormentor clearly too wrapped up in this latest discovery to even pass a care to my insult. His grin widened even further, displaying his feline-like incisors.

"Look at 'im! He's fuckin' pathetic!" He cackled. If my brows raised any higher they would have hit the roofs of the shops we were passing by. I tried to resist the urge to facepalm.

_So you're discriminating others because of their appearances now? What the hell is your problem? _I sighed.

I didn't get a reply. A snigger of wild laughter leaving his lips, I was left in a complete and utter state of shock when he roughly shoved past the teen, pushing him aside and causing the orange haired kid to stumble and collide with the shop window. I stopped walking, my hands flying up to clap to my mouth to muffle the shriek that left my lips. The kid cried out, whipping around and fixing Grimmjow with an incensed gaze, his warm brown eyes livid.

"THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU ASSHOLE?!" The boy yelled out.

Grimmjow only sneered, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing the youth with loathing mocking in his bright blue eyes.

"Nothin'. You should just mind where you're standin'. Yer in the way." He answered coolly, his rough voice scathing.

Scared that this quickly forming argument would attract the attention of passers-by, I grabbed onto Grimmjow's arm, pulling him back and glancing hastily to the angered teenager in front.

"I am so sorry! I don't know what's gotten into him..." I apologised, not realising for the moment that in doing so, some pedestrians who had stepped onto the sidewalk were fixing me with incredulous and amused stares.

'Laura, ya might want ta—'

"Shut up, you." I hissed aloud and cut him off, casting a seething glance towards my blue haired counterpart, my cheeks burning with anger and embarrassment for the sudden uncalled-for situation. "What the fuck _is_ your problem? You don't just go around barging into people like that!"

I blinked, hearing low murmurings from the small crowd who had gathered, and slowly turning my gaze from the agitated looking man in front of me I noticed that I was being stared at by those who were watching. The pedestrians were looking at me as if I was the latest star act in some circus freak show.

And then, like a very literal ton of bricks, the reason _why _I was getting stared at as such hit me.

_Oh FUCK no._

'I tried to warn ya!' Grimmjow growled quietly in my mind, his expression now hard. Feeling like I could just die right there, or at least attempt to knock myself unconscious by running headfirst into that nearby window, I began to feel my limbs trembling, my stomach seeming to devour itself from inside my body.

Of course that orange haired kid just happened to be another ego. No wonder why he could interact with Grimmjow. It all made perfect sense. Stupid, stupid, _stupid _me. _Why _didn't I have the fucking sense to figure that out in the first place?!

"C'mon." My blue haired companion muttered under his breath, wrapping his hand around my wrist and pulling me along. Clamping my mouth shut to avoid my splutters of protest, I allowed myself to be guided away from the gathering of people, that teenage boy looking just as shocked as the rest of them.

I suddenly didn't care about the fact that I had just witnessed another ego, all I cared about now was getting the fuck out of here so I could go die in a hole.

Grimmjow glanced behind him every so often, checking to make sure that we were a suitable enough distance away before he dragged me into a side alley, releasing his firm grip on my wrist and crossing his arms over his chest.

From where I glanced up at him, just able to make out the blue of his eyes and his hair in the shadowed shelter of the buildings, I could see his expression trained on me with a lethal gaze somewhere between exasperation, anger, and something which was akin to what could only be concern.

I blinked, my body feeling frozen momentarily.

He was… _concerned _about me?

His lips pulled apart into a vicious sneer, his eyes narrowing.

"O' course I am! Christ, Laura, the next time ya go an' do somethin' stupid like that at least make sure there's no one around!" He snapped out, his voice rising in his anger.

I found myself unable to speak for an agonisingly long amount of time. My hands clenched by my sides, my mouth opening and closing in some vain attempt to speak. Finally, I found my voice again.

"Me? Something stupid?" I echoed, my tone quiet. My expression felt like it was the epitome of incredulous. "Just who was it who pushed that kid over for _no apparent reason in the first place_?"

At this, his expression softened and he moved up a hand to rub it through his hair, his brows pulling forth into another faint scowl.

"'Cos he annoyed me." He grumbled out.

I blinked again. I didn't know whether to land a hit on him or burst out laughing.

"You just… beat the guy up… because he annoyed you?" I repeated.

His eyes narrowing once more, Grimmjow avoided my gaze.

I let out a heavy sigh, groaning and managing a faint chuckle as I rubbed my eyes. It seemed the angry side of my personality really _did _have extreme issues. More issues than I thought I had originally.

"I really wish I ended up with a different ego." I mumbled under my breath. I sighed, feeling his gaze upon me once more.

"What was that?" He whispered, his voice barely audible. I felt my stomach clench tightly at the sudden change in his tone; it was no longer the irritated, rough sounding edgy voice that he carried. Rather, he now sounded by all descriptions possible, genuinely shocked. My chest felt like it was being squeezed through a straw. He sounded… hurt.

_Shit._

I avoided eye contact, instead turning my eyes to inspect the concrete beneath our feet. I bit my lip, my eyes closing. I could feel tears start to form regardless. I hated this about myself, being so fucking emotional.

"You heard." I mumbled. "Honestly I wonder what it would be like if I ended up with that Starrk guy instead of you?"

A few seconds of silence passed. I swallowed thickly, willing my heart to cease its feverish pounding. The air felt so heavy it was almost hard to breathe.

"You don't mean that." Came the quiet response. I grit my teeth, my mind raging out of control.

"Oh yeah? Who's to say I don't? Sure he's lazy and he probably needs a good kick up the ass to get him out of bed every morning, but at least he doesn't have an attitude problem like yours! Hell, he doesn't go up to random people on the street and barge into them either. I know I have issues, but they're clearly not as bad as yours!" I was trembling by the end of my sentence, my voice having risen slightly in my anger.

Another silence passed. I could practically feel those eyes boring down at me, the normally agitated man in front of me now left speechless and evidently mulling over my words, as if seeking to somehow find rational meaning to them.

I rubbed my eyes, angered sniffles sounding from me as I did so. My thoughts didn't hold any truth to them – I was lashing out on verbal fumes. What made me upset was that he knew this too.

"You really don't mean that." He said again, his tone still quiet, yet there was a subtle trace of knowing understanding in his voice.

At this point I didn't care. I lifted my head, my eyes flying open and my anger reaching its peak when I saw him standing there, smiling at me, _smiling _at me! My hands clenched.

_Don't… don't look at me like that._

"Oh yeah?! Well I say I _do _mean that!" I yelled, my eyes blurring. "But what do you care anyway, huh? After all, you've clearly expressed that you don't want to have anything to do with me - how about you go be Charlotte's ego then if you hate me so much? After all, you've shown how much you prefer her over me! At least she'll have her 'soft kitty' to play with and everything will be all fucking _peachy_!"

My eyes widened when I finished, my words fading away to be trailed off into a fit of choking sobs, my hands coming up and shielding my eyes, my whole body trembling.

Oh God… what had I just done?

Sure I had moments when I seethed in jealousy, but to take it out on one of my friends like that… I felt like I wanted to die. In that moment, that was all I cared about.

_Oh God… what have I done?_

My strangled sobs were so loud I almost didn't catch the words which were spoken next.

"Laura…"

I shook my head, retreating back against the wall so I hit the brick surface. I could feel hot tears dripping down my chin, seeming to burn my skin with how my words were burning my mind.

I barely registered a faint sigh.

"Oi, Laura… calm down. I can understand yer jealous, but just calm down an' listen to me."

I shook my head again.

"No…" My voice cracked, my legs feeling like they were about to give way from under me.

_Just… just go away. _

"I'm not gonna go away."

_Get out of my head!_

"Laura, calm down… please…"

"I said go away!" I shrieked, my eyes flying open and my hands falling back down to my sides. I froze, my tears seeming to stop momentarily when I glanced up to see those cyan eyes not narrowed and filled with impatience, but rather his entire expression was set in one that I had never expected to see from him before. Gazing directly into my eyes, it was a look of both understanding and a plea for me to see reason, a plea for me to just let this all go; he was looking at me in a way he never had before. Like I was a human being.

That look cut me right to my heart. And what hurt me, was that I let it.

_No… I… I can't…_

"Laura, ya really need to just get a grip on yourself, yeah?" His tone was quiet, his rough edged voice laden with a hint of desperate urgency.

_Don't… not now. I can't..._

He stepped closer. I took a step back.

_Stop. Grimmjow…_

I shook my head, reaching my hands out and attempting to hold him back when he sighed faintly once more, continuing to step closer. I squeezed my eyes shut, pulling away and getting ready to run out of that alley in some futile attempt to leave him behind, when a warm hand wrapped around my wrist and simply pulled me closer.

The next thing I knew I was crying, the tears flowing fast and freely and soaking the material of his shirt as I buried my head against the crook of his neck, his muscled arms wrapping tightly around me in a warm embrace and cradling me closely against his equally warm and toned chest.

The calming scent of spiced cinnamon washed over me just as the radiating heat off of his body did, my shoulders shaking and my sobs sounding muffled and broken from where I moved to curl up closer against him. From next to my ear, I heard a faint 'shh', the whispered murmur somehow calming me just as much as the gentle motion of his hand rubbing down my back.

Choking back another sob, my arms wrapped even tighter around his form. I was slowly aware of my tears stopping, my sobs soon turning to mere sniffles. He continued to gently rub his long hand down my back, drawing tingles along my spine. Lowering his head so his cheek was nearly touching mine, he wrapped his arms closer around my torso.

"I'm tryin' ta help you. You really are an idiot…" He murmured quietly, though there was no malice in his tone. It was a purr of content, as if he too was feeling comforted by the proximity we found ourselves in. I couldn't help the faint smile that formed on my lips, my head burying closer against his neck.

"Yeah." I mumbled. A slight rumbling laugh coursed from his throat. Sniffing again and feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest against mine, quiet whispered words fell from my lips, my smile widening.

"You're such an asshole. Thank you... Grimmjow."

* * *

**A/N: Free virtual cookies to anyone who can guess who that ego kid was :P -iJapan**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Laura and I knew about the same things, though she had slightly more information than me because unlike mine her ego wasn't napping all day. We had both come to the conclusion that our egos had become visible around the same timeframe, and that what had done it was the challenge we had both unwittingly thrown down for them to do so.

"Hey Starrk?"

He grunted in response. Taking it for a yes I continued.

"If I hadn't goaded you into coming out would you have?" I was honestly interested, especially since perhaps this could have been avoided. He sighed almost reluctantly.

"Yes, unfortunately I was going to have to sooner or later." He ran a hand through his long hair. "I was just hoping it would be later."

"Any reason why?"

He looked at me, confused.

"It's not easy for us to be separated from you." He stated in such a way that I knew the topic was not open for discussion any longer.

_Getting information from you is like herding cats_ I grumbled mentally and got no response.

Speaking of cats, Laura's ego was rather feline. His slanted eyes and sly smile reminded me of a panther, a very attractive panther with anger management issues. Glancing sideways at my disgruntled companion I wondered what it would be like to have Grimmjow instead of Mr Eat-and-Sleep-All-Day. Though from what Laura said when Grimmjow wasn't insulting her he was glaring at her, neither of which I wanted to experience. Starrk for all his faults was at least pleasant enough and his smart ass comments were not nearly as harsh as Grimmjow's apparently.

'That one is nothing but trouble, Charlotte.' Starrk's low voice resonated in my mind followed by a slight growl.

"Seriously, why do you get so damn defensive?" I spun around to face him, my eyes narrowed in annoyance. "She has the same problem I do, and we need to work together so go change your tampon and come back when you can be civil." I huffed and quickened my pace toward the car.

Since Starrk was eating me out of house and home I needed to head to the grocery and pick up some things and his wolfy ass was coming with me - after all it was his fault.

Lost in my own thoughts during the drive I didn't notice he was studying me until I felt his hand on my cheek. Startled, I almost let go of the steering wheel. I turned my face to meet his eyes, his icy gaze boring into my skull. His eyes, which I never really studied, held mine for a few moments before I ripped my own hazel eyes from his. The intensity, as if he could see through me, and the kindness I saw there tore at me inside. Shaking it off I smoothly maneuvered into a parking spot and said not a word as we headed into the store.

* * *

It happened near the deli section, as Starrk was salivating over some fresh cut ham. In all my life I have never moved so fast with a shopping cart as I did just then. Quickly grabbing his elbow and ducking into the closest aisle I shifted from foot to foot nervously. She was here, the succubus. Sheri.

Beside me I heard Starrk snort in an almost sympathetic way and saw his eyes were on the man next to her.

Tall and brunette, the man looked as though he had just been let out of some asylum, his dull hair matted to his head. He was walking slowly behind her, as if broken, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. As they neared I unconsciously covered my nose - the stench! How did it not bother her?! She didn't even seem to notice, she just kept shopping, never talking to him. His clothes looked as though they hadn't been washed in weeks, and he smelled as if it had been a long time since he had last bathed. Wrinkling my nose I turned to say something to Starrk but noticed he was gone, striding purposefully toward the succubus and her prisoner, who I assumed was her husband.

_Starrk you fucking idiot, what are you doing?! _To my dismay, but not so much shock, he didn't respond and instead began talking to the man. Sheri the succubus on the other hand didn't so much as bat an eye at his approach.

Wait a minute.

I saw Starrk talking to the man, their heads bowed and deep in conversation, though I didn't dare approach because unlike him Sheri could see me. This man, he must be like Starrk. I gripped the handle of the shopping cart tighter as I saw Starrk gesture to where I was. The man's cold brown eyes met mine and despite his broken walk I saw the glinting of pride and self-importance in his gaze. It sent a shiver up my spine and I turned away, finding that I was in the pet aisle by the dog biscuits. Mentally I laughed to myself as I tossed a box in the cart for Bayvin and Starrk, who had taken to eating her biscuits if he got hungry.

Starrk took his sweet time before ushering the man over to where I was standing. The stench was close to unbearable but I grit my teeth, determined to endure it for information's sake.

Starrk made quick introductions and the man, Aizen Sousuke, was indeed an ego - and a rather unfortunate one. He was Sheri's ego, and he was in his rather disgusting state because of her own inner imbalance. Despite the fact he stunk and looked like hell he still managed to be prideful, and got in a few jabs at Starrk about how he at least was good looking and not lazy, oh and intelligent too. All to which Starrk rolled his eyes.

'Do some of these things sound like your boss? This is her ego after all, and he's out of control. Therefore so is she, and her personality traits you find so endearing.' He echoed in my mind.

Yes, this was her, the parts of her no one liked. It hit me like a freight train. Sheri hadn't made peace with herself, or resolved the dislike for her own tendencies and desires. She was a know-it-all, she was mean, conniving, and convinced that she was the smartest among us; and all of these things I was feeling from looking at this man.

_Why does he smell and look so bad? _

'Being unresolved is like poison to us. If this continues he will eventually disappear and she will remain as she is forever, with no chance to change. The worse smelling and looking one of us becomes, the closer we are to not existing.'

I gasped at his explanation and looked at Aizen again. There was no doubt the man was closing in on his expiration date. He was in animated conversation with Starrk - apparently he had seen another ego, one freed from his master completely. As the brunette bid us goodbye and turned back to Sheri I thought I saw a hint of sadness in his eyes.

We couldn't get home fast enough, hurriedly I unloaded the car and put the groceries away. I had other things on my mind. Quickly booting up my laptop I brought up Laura's contact and began typing furiously.

* * *

_Laura,_

_You won't believe this, or maybe you will as we are both certifiable now. I SAW ANOTHER EGO! And not just any ego, it was the ego of my evil bitch boss._

_He looked terrible and smelled worse. Starrk says it's because if the ego and human remain unresolved the ego will rot and disappear. If that happens then the human will never be able to change those aspects of themselves. _

_Does this mean if we don't deal with our issues both our egos and us will suffer the same fate?!_

_Oh, the guy - Aizen he called himself - mentioned he met another ego. One that was completely freed of its human. He said we would know if we saw him because he had pink hair..._

_Keep an eye out and pet Grimmjow for me._

_Char_


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I lost count of how much time had passed since being ushered into that alleyway. It felt like minutes, though it could have been hours. All I found myself being able to concentrate clearly on was the warmth I found myself surrounded by, the embrace I was being held tightly in calming me in such a way that I had never felt this safe and secure ever before in my entire life.

Taking yet another deep breath I was acutely aware of the feel of Grimmjow's chest continuing to rise and fall gently against mine, the faint pounding of his heart comforting me and the tightening of his arms around my back serving to reassure me that this really was reality, and not just some figment of my distressed mind.

"You ok now?"

The low murmur of his voice near my ear brought me out of my reverie, my eyes blinking open. I nodded my head, resting it back against the crook of his neck. He gave a slight nod in return, patting my back.

With a heavy sigh as he slowly moved to pull away, I tried to ignore the stabbing feeling of emptiness which flooded my being at the loss of contact. Unfortunately I found that it wasn't so easy to simply push aside. Glancing up into cyan eyes I felt my stomach clench at the expression I found in those vibrant depths. His features were set into a look of indifference, yet his eyes still gave away the sharp twinge of regret he was so clearly feeling inside. He caught me looking at him and his brows pulled forth into their usual scowl, his expression once more mildly irritated.

"You really are a soft kitty, aren't you?" I murmured quietly. His scowl deepened, though his lips twitched into a faint grin regardless.

"Shut it." He retorted back just as quietly.

Scoffing I shook my head, another heavy sigh passing my lips. Giving a small smile I lifted my gaze back to his.

"Thank you." I whispered. He blinked, falling silent for a few seconds. He didn't respond, though his grin widened ever so slightly.

Turning my head I glanced towards the street visible from the alleyway we were standing in. The sun was sinking lower behind the trees, the day's light almost out.

"We should probably head back home." I mumbled. Looking back down at me, my blue haired companion regarded me carefully before sighing and running a hand through his unruly locks.

"Yeah. Next time don't go all stupid on me again and then we won't get home so late." He replied, his tone a grumble as he walked forwards, me following closely next to him as we continued our trek back out towards the street.

Not having the heart to roll my eyes at his insensitive comment I merely gazed ahead of me, my steps moving in time with his.

"I knew it." I murmured. He frowned, turning his head to look back down at me.

"Knew what?" He asked.

"That it wouldn't be long until you started acting like an asshole again." I continued. He snorted, his grin pulling into a smirk, Grimmjow stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"That was a once off. Don't expect me to be there to hold yer hand all the time." He replied.

I smiled faintly.

"I kind of wish you would."

My voice was quiet to even my own ears but I knew he had heard me regardless. He fell silent, a brief look passing over his face, his expression something I couldn't quite place. He stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets.

Exhaling heavily I returned my gaze back ahead of us, pushing aside the suspicion that surfaced inside my mind at his expression just then. I instead decided to change the conversation, speaking up once more when we were only a few streets away from home.

"So that kid before… he was definitely another ego, was he?" I asked, fumbling around in my pockets for my keys, pulling them out and clutching the jangling metal in my hand. I could almost feel the furrowing of Grimmjow's brows in the long silence that followed, and, sure enough when I turned my head to gaze at him to gauge his reaction, I saw that that was indeed the case.

His expression appeared to mirror mine, his face set into a stern look of wary disbelief. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes taking on a faraway gaze. Sighing heavily he nodded.

"Yeah. Looks like it." He murmured.

I fell silent, now stepping up to my front door and turning my keys in the lock. After a few minutes I succeeded with unlocking the door, throwing it open and proceeding to walk inside with Grimmjow following. He shut the door behind him, our footsteps echoing through the corridor as we made our way into the living room.

I needed a cup of tea – the revelation that we had seen _another _ego continued to eat away at my brain, quickly draining my thought processes of all clarity and leaving me feeling nothing but a muddled mess of confusion and fatigue.

"I sure hope you can explain just what the hell is going on now Grimmjow, because I'm really not in the mood for your usual vague shit." I sighed, trekking into the kitchen and pulling down a mug for myself.

I turned my head to glance at him from the corner of my eyes, my brow furrowing when I observed him pacing back and forth in a restless motion, his arms behind his head and his expression truly puzzled. He closed his eyes, running a hand over his face and shaking his head.

"I got no fucking clue." He replied, his voice sounding strained. He stopped pacing to and fro, only to glance wearily back at me. There was no lie in his cyan eyes. He seemed to be feeling just as put out by this as I was. Nodding, afraid of this, I turned my head back up to the cupboard, pulling down another mug and making to turn on the kettle.

"The only thing I can think of is that you appearing somehow made other egos appear. Like a chain reaction sort of thing." I murmured, gazing absentmindedly at the bubbles of water inside the kitchen appliance, watching the steam curl in roiling waves through the air.

There was silence for a few seconds, broken only by the sound of someone seating themselves down on the couch.

"Dunno. That's possible. But it's natural fer egos to see other egos. Havin' an ego's _human _seein' other egos isn't that common." Grimmjow spoke up a moment later. Frowning faintly I turned around from where I had picked up the now freshly made tea, beginning to walk over to him on the couch.

He was resting his elbows on his knees, his gaze trained on the opposite wall and his fingers laced under his chin. He looked up when I approached, muttering a gruff thanks when I placed his tea down in front of him.

Heaving a sigh I settled myself down beside him on the couch, sipping slowly from the hot beverage in my hands and mulling over his words.

"Makes you wonder whose ego he was…" I said in-between intermittent sips of tea. Grimmjow scoffed a laugh, taking a long drink from his cup.

"Could be anyone's. Though I'd say whoever has that little shit fer an ego really is a poor son of a bitch." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, though grinning slightly despite myself.

_Discriminating bastard_, I thought quietly. Grimmjow's smirk widened, a bark of laughter falling from his lips.

My own smile widening I chuckled, finishing off some more of my tea and seating myself back further against the couch.

"Though the fact that you could see 'im too is still bothering me." Grimmjow continued, his expression now serious. I blinked, turning my head to look at him. He continued to train his gaze onto the opposite wall, his brow furrowing further. He slid his eyes to glance at me, the cyan depths of his irises finding mine.

I swallowed quickly, hastily drinking some more of my tea to try and detract away from the all-too familiar blushing I could feel forming on my cheeks.

"H-how so?" I managed to ask a short while later, placing my now empty teacup back onto the tabletop.

He sighed, my blue haired counterpart shaking his head and leaning back against the couch pillow.

"Like I said. Seein' egos is normal for other egos. I don't know how or why you're suddenly able to see them, too. O' course that probably means that other humans with imbalances in their egos can see us now as well. Honestly, for fuck's sake it'd be easier if people learn to get along with themselves, then no one would have to deal with all this shit. You don't need any more problems with yer lives." He replied, Grimmjow's tone bitter.

I blinked once more, now feeling thoroughly confused.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

A humourless laugh fell from Grimmjow's lips, his eyes closing as he ran a hand once more through his wild blue locks.

"It's complicated." He answered quietly.

"I can see that." I deadpanned, continuing to gaze steadily at him, my mind still utterly bewildered.

He didn't retort, which was once again what I had been expecting him to do. Instead, a sigh of resignation escaped his throat, his expression becoming tired and laced with an edge of remorse when he opened his eyes once more, gazing back at me. I felt my breath catch at the look in his eyes.

"I'll tell you when the time's right." He muttered.

By now I was almost ready to cry out in my exasperation. His continual vagueness with his responses was quickly leaving me in a near constant state of irritation.

"And what do you mean by _that_ exactly?!" I exclaimed, trying to curb my anger, my voice coming out as a quiet hiss. "You've had plenty of opportunity to tell me already, Grimmjow. You keep on avoiding this topic – I want to know _why_! How the fuck can we work on this together to help solve this ego shit if you don't even tell me what you clearly already know?!"

To my further exasperation he remained silent. I received no response from him, instead finding myself fixed with that same gaze. He was clearly hiding something, yet the look in his eyes expressed to me that even if he could, he would still not tell me.

That really pissed me off.

Letting out an angered growl I found myself in desperate need to vent my frustration, and what better way to do that than to fully take it out on him?

I threw my hand back, getting ready to sock him in the face. I suddenly didn't care about anything else – if he wasn't going to tell me anything then I would beat it out of him. No matter how great a difference there was in his physical strength compared to mine.

My eyes widening a second later, a small shriek left my lips when he effortlessly raised a hand and clamped it gently yet firmly around my wrist, blocking my hand from where it was in direct line towards his head as I swung it down. I froze, the sudden movement throwing me off balance and causing me to fall forwards.

His other hand flew out to wrap around my hip, steadying me when I tumbled onto his lap. Another small shriek leaving my lips I could feel my face flush brighter in a combination of both anger and embarrassment, my whole body burning from the very close and compromising position I found myself in, my legs now on either side of his waist.

Trying not to let my mind wander anywhere unnecessary, I found my breath catching amidst the enraged tears forming in my eyes – having found myself staring directly into the vivid blue of his irises. I swallowed thickly, his eyes narrowing slightly at me. His expression was still locked in that same tired gaze, and the tinge of slight regret, ever so faint and would have gone unnoticed by me if I wasn't so close, echoed deeply in cyan depths.

"L-let go of me." I stammered, finally finding the strength to speak. I tried to free my hand from his grip, but he merely tightened his fingers around my wrist in response. I was trembling, trying to move to get away, but his hand wrapped firmer around my hip immediately afterwards, keeping me in place. I shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the tingles shooting through my spine.

"Grimmjow, I mean it. Let go of me." I tried again, my voice rising an octave.

He sighed, not once taking his gaze away from mine. I was completely frozen, my heart hammering away feverishly in my chest. I continued to tremble.

"No. I mean what I mean. Stop askin' me about it." He murmured quietly, his rough voice weary. I blinked, all sense of awkwardness fading slowly away the longer he continued to hold my gaze. His expression softened, his features becoming fatigued.

"But… _why_?" I whispered, feeling both angered and despaired at the same time.

He blinked, sighing heavily.

"Because… you have enough to deal with right now." He mumbled.

It was my turn to blink, confusion now flooding my senses. All exasperation now momentarily forgotten I leant closer, tentatively reaching out a hand and touching my trembling fingertips to his cheek, feeling his warm skin. He froze up briefly, his eyes gazing at me warily. I bit my lip, a small sigh of relief almost passing my mouth when he visibly relaxed after a few seconds. He closed his eyes, almost leaning into my touch.

"Since when have you cared about how much I have to deal with?" I asked quietly.

He opened his eyes again.

"I don't." He muttered faintly, trying to form some sharp bite to his tone, though I couldn't help the slight smile that pulled at my lips knowing that despite his words what he meant was entirely the opposite.

_That really is sweet of you_, I murmured softly in my head. He scoffed faintly.

'Shut it.'

Laughing quietly I shook my head, his own lips pulling into a slight grin in response. Feeling more confident I stretched out my hand and held my palm against his cheek, my fingertips splaying slightly through his blue locks. I smiled, giggling a little to myself at the surprising softness of his hair.

"Charlotte was right." I murmured, my tone amused as I brushed a loose strand away behind his ear. He scoffed again, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. You've had yer fun, now ya got anythin' else better to do than annoy me?" He questioned, raising a brow and glaring at me. Though for all his attempts he was unable to hide the look of contentment in his expression.

I was about to respond when a buzzing sound redirected my attention towards the coffee table, my phone's screen lighting up and informing me of an incoming message. Frowning slightly, I quickly extricated myself from Grimmjow's lap, my blue haired counterpart removing his hands from my wrist and hip and allowing me to move.

I cleared my throat, feeling my face heat up once more the second I tumbled off of him and made a dive for my phone, holding the mobile up and accessing my home screen. I felt my stomach drop when I saw that I had received a new email, and I hastily sat myself back against the couch, Grimmjow narrowing his eyes and seating himself closer to observe me as I opened my latest message.

It was from Charlotte. Sharing a quick glance with my blue haired ego, our expressions were now wary. If she was emailing me again, then there must have been something else which had happened. Something bad.

I selected the message and we began reading.

* * *

_Laura,_

_You won't believe this, or maybe you will as we are both certifiable now. I SAW ANOTHER EGO! And not just any ego, it was the ego of my evil bitch boss._

_He looked terrible and smelled worse. Starrk says it's because if the ego and human remain unresolved the ego will rot and disappear. If that happens then the human will never be able to change those aspects of themselves. _

_Does this mean if we don't deal with our issues both our egos and us will suffer the same fate?!_

_Oh, the guy - Aizen he called himself - mentioned he met another ego. One that was completely freed of its human. He said we would know if we saw him because he had pink hair..._

_Keep an eye out and pet Grimmjow for me._

_Char_

* * *

If I was perfectly honest with myself, as I exhaled a deep breath and leant my elbows on my knees, my chin resting in my hands and my eyes closing, with all that had happened over the past couple of days I discovered that nothing could seem to shock me anymore.

On the contrary, I found that I read over my friend's words without batting an eye or sparing a second thought about the message that appeared on my phone's screen.

I had accepted that we were the definition of batshit insane, and it was only natural for batshit insane crap to occur for us on a regular basis. This was no exception.

"So she's been seeing other egos too…" I mused. I heard Grimmjow give a brief grunt of agreement, he too leaning forwards on the couch and resting his elbows on his knees.

Frowning slightly I turned my head to gaze at my companion, studying his features carefully. He appeared troubled, his brow furrowed into a look of contemplation.

"Is that true? About egos just fading away like that?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly towards the end. Even though I had come to willingly expect everything that was happening around us, I still couldn't mask the fear which coursed through my being at saying those words aloud.

If there was one thing which could haunt me by the words my friend had said, it was that. My chest seemed to clench tightly on itself. Unbidden thoughts of something like that happening to my ego tore away mercilessly at my mind. I found myself almost unable to breathe.

Grimmjow blinked, sliding his gaze to study me carefully. His face was now expressionless. I felt myself swallow thickly, my hands trembling. He sighed.

"Yeah."

His blunt reply had my mind reeling. He closed his eyes, rubbing a hand over his forehead.

"The more our humans push us away and vice versa, the more it affects us both. We fall apart and disappear. An' our humans stay just as miserable as before any o' this started." He continued, his voice flat.

I took deep breaths to try and steady myself.

"I s'pose it's fer the better sometimes, when you look at some o' the egos an' their humans." Grimmjow added, giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Stop it." I whispered. He paused, glancing at me carefully once more. I swallowed thickly again. "Stop it. Please."

His eyes narrowed.

"This is… what you were avoiding telling me before, wasn't it?" I asked, barely audibly. He held my gaze, his cyan eyes staring intently into mine. He appeared to open his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His hands drew up into fists over his knees. He dropped his gaze, turning to look back at the opposite wall.

I felt sick, my hands moving to grip my stomach. I also turned my head to gaze at the wall, watching the ticking minute hand of the clock. I didn't have all the answers, but I reckoned I had heard enough.

"I… don't want that to happen to you."

He closed his eyes, exhaling sharply.

"I mean it, I—"

"You don't know what you're asking." He interrupted, his tone sharp. I blinked, now thoroughly confused. He looked back at me, his expression conflicted.

"Don't I? Look, we have to work together to resolve this! I don't want you to end up like this 'Aizen' guy that Charlotte and Starrk were talking about. We can find this other ego, the one who supposedly freed himself of his human! Pink hair can't be too hard to find. We can ask him how he managed it, and then you can be free of all this and then I… I…" I trailed off, my thoughts seeming to turn to dust in my mind.

I really didn't know what I was asking. But I know I didn't like where it was headed.

Grimmjow gave a humourless laugh, his eyes echoing a look of sadness. That sudden change of expression was so unexpected I felt time seem to come to a standstill around me.

His lips pulled into a faint smile.

"You really want that?" He asked, his rough voice quiet.

I felt myself crumble into a million pieces.

"No."

He laughed quietly again, his eyes holding a knowing look. He ran a hand over his forehead once more and nodded.

"Alright then." He whispered, his tone definitive. I felt my brows furrowing, but I didn't ask him anything. It seemed as if he had somehow been seeking confirmation for some unasked question – my response having been an answer he was looking for.

"Reply to yer friend and then get some sleep." He spoke up a moment later, standing up from the couch and stretching slightly. My eyes followed him as he spared a last glance at me before heading off down the hallway. I was left blinking, my mind feeling like a complete and utter maelstrom of scattered thoughts.

"Grimmjow…"

My call was unanswered, my blue haired companion not bothering to look back. Letting out a heavy huff of a sigh I buried my head in my hands. I glanced at my phone between my fingertips, chewing my lip in thought.

Finally finding the energy I began typing up my response.

* * *

_Char,_

_You're not the only one to run into another ego. Grimmjow and I met one on the street as we were walking back. Well, to be more precise, Grimmjow ambushed this orange haired kid and shoved him into a wall. _

_I don't know what's up with him. He's been acting… weird… all day. He's hiding something from me, always avoiding answering my questions when I ask him why he won't tell me what he knows. He seems kind of conflicted, like he wants to tell me but doesn't because he knows it will hurt me in some way. _

_As for this Aizen guy and egos disappearing, I don't know about you but I honestly felt like if that happened to Grimmjow it would tear me apart no matter how much of a pain in the ass he is. I'll keep a lookout for this other guy you mentioned, that pink haired ego. If he's managed to separate himself from his human, then I think that's something that would be best for me and Grimmjow. I told him that I didn't want that to happen but… he's distressed about something. Call me stupid, sentimental and naïve if you want but in the end he's a part of me and I want him to be happy. So if having him leave without causing any physical or mental harm to both him and myself is the only way about it… I think that would be best._

_I haven't told him this and I'm not going to. I have a class tomorrow, but if you go looking for this guy and find him, please let me know. I want to talk to him._

_Laura_

* * *

I sent the message.

Burying my head in my hands once more I rubbed my eyes, trying to rid the tears I had felt starting to form.

I bit my lip, taking another shaky breath. Steadying myself as I rose from the couch I began the trek towards the bathroom.

It was a good half hour later when I exited, my pyjamas on and my hair tied up. It was still reasonably early, only 9pm, but I was too tired to find something to eat. I just wanted some rest. Walking into my room I shut the door behind me, being sure to lock it as I always did.

I glanced up to see Grimmjow already asleep, a faint smile forming on my lips as I observed the rise and fall of his chest underneath the covers, his hair brushing messily over his forehead. Rubbing my eyes I settled myself down next to him, turning off the light and plunging the room into complete darkness.

My mind was far too turbulent to allow me to sleep easily – my eyes failing to co-operate with me and close of their own will. Instead I listened to the gentle breathing of the man next to me, my body revelling in the warmth his close proximity provided.

Turning my head and eyeing the relaxed expression on his face, streams of moonlight highlighting his features in a silver glow, I found myself coming to a strong resolve about my decision.

It was with this thought that I finally slipped into the clutches of my fatigue, falling into a deep slumber.

Halfway through the night a soft smile formed on my lips, Grimmjow's hand having found mine in our sleep and our fingers lacing gently together.


End file.
